JQ UC-N

54
SB 5S
G-7
THE

INDIAN COUNCILS ACT,

AND THE

ACTS AMENDING IT

WITH

ALL OFFICIAL PAPERS CONNECTED THEREWITH AND

THE RULES FOR THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS.

AT

MEETINGS OF THE COUNCIL.

3 a (1 r a s :

PRINTED AT THE NATIONAL PRESS,

1 0, MOUNT ROAD.
 A
c^Tx ^ffcrr&e' <^//s// ^/2<4
 THE

INDIAN COUNCILS ACT,

AND

ACTS AMENDING IT

WITH

ALL OFFICIAL PAPERS CONNECTED THEREWITH AND

THE RULES FOR THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS,

AT

MEETINGS OF THE COUNCIL.

Jft a d r u * :

PRINTED AT THE NATIONAL PRESS,

100, MOUNT ROAD,

1893.

Price Ono Rupee.

MORSE STEPHENS
 The Acts, Rules and utterances having a

bearing on the subject of the Reconstitution

of the Legislative Councils in this country

are collected together in the following pages

to facilitate reference in the coining years

when, the discussion is bound to go on, having

regard to the really inadequate and reluctant

response that has been vouchsafed to the

earnest appeal, for a period of eight years, on

the part of the Indian National Congress.

M. V.
loth May'

1893. )

512594
 TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page.
~
The Indian Councils Act (1892) ... 1

The Indian Councils Act (1861) 5

Act of 1869 amending the Indian Councils Act of 18GJ . 20

Act of 1870 206
Act of 1871 ... 2Qd

Memorandum by the British Committee of the Indian

National Congress on the Act with Extracts from
the speeches of .Responsible Statesmen in England 21

His Excellency Lord Lansdowne's speech on the Rules

under the Indian Councils Act (1892) ... ... 42

His Excellency Lord Lansdowne's speech on the

Constitution of Legislative Councils ... ... 47
Rules regarding the constitution of the Legislative
Council ... ... ... ... 57

Regulations under Section I (4) for Madras ... ... 58

,}
for Bombay ... ... 60

jy for Bee gal ... ... 62

for the N.-W. Provinces

and Oudh 64

Rules relating to the nomination of members to the

Legislative Councils of Bengal ... ... 60
... Bombay 73

33 ... Madras ... ... 70

... N.-W.Provinces&Oudh. 79

Correspondence between the Government of India and

the Right Honorable the Secretary of State) ... 81

Rules for the Conduct of Business &t Meetiogs of the

Council of the Fort St. George 95
 THE INDIAN COUNCILS ACT (1892.)

An Act to amend the Indian Councils Act, 1861.

20th June, 1892.

BE it enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and

with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the
authority of the same, as follows :

(1) The number of additional members of Council

1. nomi- Provisions

nated by the Governor-General under the provisions of section ten of^j^jjer'of

6
of the Indian Councils Act, 1861, shall be such as to him may members of
seem from time to time expedient, but shall not be less than ten Indian Coun.

nor more than sixteen ; and the number of additional members of

Council nominated by the Governors of the presidencies of Fort
?^
ls
^ m^s
regulations?
St. George and Bombay respectively under the provisions of
section twenty-nine of the Indian Councils Act, 1861, shall (besides 24 & 25 Viot,
the Advocate-General of the presidency or officer acting in that c. 67.

capacity) be such as to the said Governors respectively may seem

from time to time expedient, but shall not be less thao eight nor
more than twenty.
(2) It shall be lawful for the Governor-General in Council
by proclamation from time to time to increase the number of
Councillors whom the Lieutenant-Go vernors of the Bengal Divi-
sion of the presidency of Fort William and of the North- Western
Provinces and Oudh respectively may nominate for their assistance
in making laws and regulations Provided always that not more
:

than twenty shall be nominated for the Bengal Division, and not
more than fifteen for the North-Western Provinces and Oudh.
(3) Any person resident in India may be nominated an addi-
tional member of Council under sections ten and twenty-nine of
the Indian Councils Act, 1861, and this Act, or a member of the
Council of the Lieutenant-Governor of any province to which the
provisions of the Indian Councils Act, 1861, touching the making
of laws and regulations, have been or are hereafter extended or
made applicable.

(4) The Governor-General in Council may from time to time

with the approval of the Secretary of State in Council, make regu-
 I 2]
lations as to the conditions under which such nominations, or
any
of them, shall be made by the Governor-General, Governors, and
Lieutenant-Governors, respectively, and prescribe the manner in
which such regulations shall be carried into effect.
Modification
V1 10I
2.Notwithstanding any provision in the Indian Councils Act,
P
'of 24 & 25 18^1* nefcGovernor-General of India in Council may from time
Viet c. 67 to time make rules authorising at any meeting of the Governor-
,

purpose of making laws and regulations

aa to business General's Council for the
1* 1
the Discussion ^ tne annual Financial Statement of the Governor-
meetings
General in Council and the asking of questions, but under such
condition and restrictions as to subject or otherwise as shall be
in the said rules prescribed or declared And notwithstanding
:

any provisions in the Indian Councils Act, 1861, the Governors

in Council of Fort St, George and Bombay, respectively, and the
Lieuten ant-Governor of any province to which the provisions of
the Indian Councils Act, 1861, touching the making of laws and
regulations, have been more or are hereafter, extended or made
applicable, may from time to time make rules for authorising at
any meeting of their respective Councils for the purpose of making
laws and regulations the discussion of the Annual Financial State-
ment of their respective local Governments and the asking of
-questions, but under such conditions and restrictions as to subject
or otherwise as shall in the said rules applicable to such Councils
respectively be prescribed or declared. But no member at any such
meeting of any Council should have power to submit or propose
any resolution, or to divide the Council in respect of any such
financial discussion, or the answer to any question asked under
the authority of this Act, or the rules made under this Act :

Provided that any rule made under this Act by a Governor in

Council, or by a Lieutenant -Governor, shall be submitted for and
shall be subject to the sanction of the Governor-General in Council,
and any rule made under this Act by the Governor-General in
Council shall be submitted for and shall be subject to the sanc-
tion of the Secretary of State in Council Provided also that rules
:

made under this Act shall not be subject to alteration or amend-

ment at meetings for the purpose of making laws and regulations.
Meaning of
^' ^ nere ^v declared that in the twenty-second section
*s

24 & 25 Viet, of the Indian Councils Act, 1861, it was and is intended that the
c. 67, s. 22;
words " Indian territories now under the dominion of Her Majesty"
ll

IV* <? 85* & snou ^ ^ e rea(l an<i construed as if the words " or hereafter" were
16 '& 17 Viet., an(l na(l at the time of the passing of the said Act been inserted
c. 95< next after the word " now" and further, that the Acts third and
:

fourth, William the Fourth, Chapter eighty-five, and sixteenth and

eeventeenth Victoria, Chapter ninety-five respectively, shall be
read and construed as if at the date of the enactment thereof
respectively it was intended and had been enacted that the said
Acts respectively should extend to and include the territories
acquired after the dates thereof respectively by the East India
 [3]
Company, and should not be confined to the territories at the
dates of the said enactments respectively in the possession, and
under the Government of the said Company.
4. Sections thirteen and thirty-two of the Indian Councils Repeal.

Act, 1861 , are hereby repealed, and it is enacted that **mc

(1) If any additional member of Council or any members of
the Council of a Lieutenant-Governor appointed under the said mem bers..
Act or this Act shall be absent from India or unable to- attend to
the duties of his office for a period of two consecutive months, it
shall be lawful for the Governor-General, the Governor, or the
Lieutenant-Governor to whose Council such additional member or
member may have been nominated (as the case may be) to declare^
by a notification published in the Government Gazette, that the-
seat in Council of such person has become vacant.

(2) In the event of a vacancy occurring by the absence from

India, inability to attend to duty, death, acceptance of office, or
resignation duly accepted of any such additional member or
member of the Council of a Lieutenant-Governor, or it shall be
lawful for the Governor-General, for the Governor, or for the
Lieutenant-Governor, as the case may be, to-- nominate any person
as additional member or member, as the ease may be, in^ hia
place; and every member so nominated shall be summoned to
all meetings held for the purpose of making laws and regulations
for the term of two years from the date of such- nomination :

Provided always that it shall not be lawful by such nomination,

or by any other nomination made under this Act, to> diminish the-
proportion of non-official members directed by the Indian Councils
Act, 1861, to be nominated.
5. The local legislature of any
J province in India may from .

Powers of
,. ,. * j. T i T i
time to time, by Acts passed under and subject to the provisions Indian pro-
of the Indian Councils Act, 1861, and with the previous sanction vincial l
of the Governor-General but not otherwise, repeal or amend as latUDes
to that province any law or regulation made either before or after
the passing of this Act by any authority in India other than that
local legislature :Provided that an Act or a provision of an- Act
made by a local legislature, and subsequently assented to by the
Governor-General in pursuance of the Indian Councils Act, 1861,
shall not be deemed invalid by reason only of its requiring the
previous sanction of the Governor-General under this- section.

Definitions. 6-. In this Act-

The expression "local legislature" means

(1) The Governor in Council for the purpose of making law&

and regulations of the respective provinces of Fort St.
and Bombay ; and
 [4]
(2) The Council for the purpose of making laws and regula-
tions of the Lieutenant Governor of any province to which the
provisions of the Indian Councils Act, 1861, touching the making
of laws or regulations have been or are hereafter extended or
made applicable.

The expression " Province" means any presidency, division,

province or territory over which the powers of any local legisla-
ture for the time being extend.

Saving 7. Nothing in this Act shall detract from or diminish the

power of of the Governor-General in Council at meetings for the
Governor- powers
* _ , . . .

General in purpose of making laws and regulations.

Council.

Short title. 8. This Act may be cited as the Indian Councils Act, 1892 ;
and the Indian Councils Act, 1861, and this Act may be cited
together as the Indian Councils Acts, 1861 and 1892.
 THE INDIAN COUNCILS ACT (1861.)

An Act to make better Provision for the Constitution of the Council

of the Governor-General of India, and for the Local Government

of the several Presidencies and Provinces of India, and for the
temporary Government of India in the event of a Vacancy in
the Office of Governor-General.
[1st August 1861.']
WHEREAS it is expedient that the provisions of former Acts
of Parliament respecting the constitution and functions of the
Council of the Governor-General of India should be consolidated
and in certain respects amended, and that power should be given
to the Governors in Council of the Presidencies of Fort Saint
George and Bombay to make laws and regulations for the govern-
ment of the said Presidencies ; and that provision should be made
for constituting the like authority in other parts of Her Majesty's
Indian dominions : Be it therefore declared and enacted by the
Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this
present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same,
as follows :

This Act may be cited for " The Indian

1. all purposes as short title
Councils Act, 1861.

2. Sections forty, forty -three, forty four, fifty, sixty-six, Act sand
seventy, and so much of sections sixty-one and sixty-four as parts of Act*
relates to vacancies in the office of ordinary member of the
Council of India, of the Act of the third and fourth years of King
William the Fourth, chapter eighty-five, for effecting an arrange-
ment with the East India Company, and for the better Govern-
ment of Her Majesty's Indian territories, till the thirtieth day of
April, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, sections twenty-
two, twenty-three, twenty-four, and twenty-six of the Act of the
sixteenth and seventeenth years of Her Majesty, chapter ninety-
ft
five, to provide for the Government of India/' and the Act of
the twenty-third and twenty-fourth years of Her Majesty, chapter
" to remove doubts as to the
eighty-seven, authority of the senior
" member of the Council of the Governor-General of India in the
" absence of the
president/' are hereby repealed ; and all other
enactments whatsoever now in force with relation to the Council
of the Governor-General of India, or to the Councils of the Gov-
ernors of the respective Presidencies of Fort Saint George and
Bombay, shall, save so far as the same are altered by or are
 [6 ]

repugnant to this Act, continue in force, and be applicable to the

Council of the Governor-General of India and the Councils of the
respective Presidencies under this Act.
Composition There shall be ordinary members of the said Council of
3.
of the Council
Governor-General, three of whom shall from time to time be
fae
nor-GeneraT aPPi
n ted from among such persons as shall
of India. have been, at the time of such appointment, in the service in
India of the Crown, or of the Company and the Crown, for at least
ten years ; and if the person so appointed shall be in the military
service of the Crown, he shall not, during his continuance in
office as a member of Council, hold any military command, or be

employed in actual military duties ; and the remaining two, one

of whom shall be a barrister or a member of the Faculty of Advo-
cates in Scotland of not less than five years standing, shall be
appointed from time to time by Her Majesty by warrant under
Her Royal Sign Manual ; and it shall be lawful for the Secretary
of State in Council to appoint the Commander-in-Chief of Her
Majesty's Forces in India to be an extraordinary member of the
said Council, and such extraordinary member of Council shall
have rank and precedence at the Council Board next after the
Governor-General.

Present mem- 4. The present ordinary members of the Council of the

bers of Coun- Governor-General of India shall continue to be ordinary members
C 01X " un(*er and for the purposes of this Act ; and it shall be lawful for
mu
Her Majesty, on the passing of this Act, to appoint by warrant
P
o\ fifth
tment as a ^ oresa
*"
^
an ordinary member of Council, to complete the
her, and
number of five hereby established ; and there shall be paid to
salaries of such ordinary member, and to all other ordinary members who
members, &c. m ay be hereafter appointed, such amount of salary as may from
time to time be fixed for members of the Council of the Governor-
General by the Secretary of State in Council, with the concur-
rence of a majority of members of Council present at a meeting;
and all enactments of any Act of Parliament or law of India res-
pecting the Council of the Governor-General oj; India and the
members thereof shall be held to apply to the said Council as con-
stituted by this Act, except so far as they are repealed by or are
repugnant to any provisions of this Act.
Provisional * It shall be lawful for the Secretary of State in Council,
appointments with the concurrence of a majority of members present at a
members of
meeting, and for Her Majesty, by warrant as aforesaid, respec-
of

tively, to appoint any person provisionally to succeed to the office

of ordinary member of the Council of the Governor-General, when
the same shall become vacant by the death or resignation of the
person holding the said office, or on his departure from India
with intent to return to Europe, or on any event and contingency
expressed in any such provisional appointment, and such appoint-
ment again to revoke ; but no person so appointed to succeed
 [7]
provisionally to such office shall
be entitled to any authority,
or emolument appertaining thereto until he shall be in the
salary,
actual possession of such office.
6. Whenever the said Governor-General in Council shall Provisions
declare that it is expedient that the said Governor-General should during
visit any part of India unaccompanied by his Council, it shall be GoTeraor-
lawful for the said Governor-General in Council, previously to the General in
departure of the Governor-General, to nominate some member of India> parts
other of

the said Council to be president of the said Council, in whom,

during the time of such visit, the powers of the said Governor-
General in assemblies of the said Council shall be reposed, except
that of assenting to or withholding his assent from, or reserving
for the signification of Her Majesty's pleasure, any law or regu-
lation, as herein-after provided; and it shall' be lawful in every
such case for the said Governor-General in Council, by an order
for that purpose to be made, to authorize the Governor -General
alone to exercise all or any of the powers which might be exercis-
ed by the said Governor- General in Council in every case in which
the said Governor-General may think it expedient to exercise the
same, except the power of making laws or regulations.
7. Whenever the Governor- General, or such president so Provisions in
nominated as aforesaid, shall be obliged to absent himself from case of
Absence of
any meeting of Council (other than meetings for the purpose of tro vernor-
t -i T * i FL j i \
making laws and regulations, as herein-atter provided,) owing (j enera & ci} .

to indisposition or any other cause whatsoever, and shall signify from meeting
his intended absence to the Council, then and in every such case of Council,
the senior member for the time being who shall be present at such
meeting shall preside thereat, in such manner, and with such full
powers and authorities during the time of such meeting, as such
Governor-General or president would have had in case he had
been present at such meeting ; pro rided always, that no act of
Council made at any such meeting shall be valid to any effect
whatsoever unless the same shall be signed by such Governor-
General or president respectively, if such Governor-General or
president shall at the time be resident at the place at which such
meeting shall be assembled, and shall not be prevented by such
indisposition from signing the same : Provided always, that in
case such Governor-General or president, not being' so prevented
as aforesaid, shall^decline or refuse to sign such act of Council,
he, and the several members of Council who shall have signed the
same, shall mutually exchange with and communicate in jvriting
to each other the grounds and reasons of their respective opinions,
in like manner and subject to such regulations and ultimate res-
ponsibility as are by an Act of the thirty-third year of King 33 Geo g '

George the Third, chapter fifty-two, sections forty-seven, forty- c 52. Sg 47

.
(

eight, forty-nine, fifty, and fifty-one, provided and described in to 51.

cases where such Governor-General shall, when present, dissent
from any measure proposed or agitated in the Council.
 [8]
Power of
8, It shall be lawful for the Governor-General from time to

^eneraMio time to make rules and orders for the more convenient transaction
make rules of business in the said Council ; and any order made or act done
for conduct of in accordance with such rules and orders (except as hereafter
business.
provided respecting laws and regulations) shall be deemed to be
the order or act of the Governor- General in Council.

Council, 9. The said Council shall from time to time assemble at such
place or places as shall be appointed by the Governor-General in
Council within the territories of India ; and as often as the said
Council shall assemble within either of the Presidencies of Fort
Saint George or Bombay, the Governor of such Presidency shall
act as an extraordinary member of Council ; and as often as the
said Council shall assemble within any other division, province, or
territory having a Lieutenant-Governor, such Lieutenant-Governor
shall act as an additional councillor at meetings of the Council,
for the purpose of making laws and regulations only, in manner
herein-after provided.

exercise of the power of making laws and

be summoned regulations vested in the Governor-General in Council the Gover-
for the pur- nor-General shall nominate, in addition to the ordinary and ex-
pose of mak- members above and to such Lieutenant-
traordinary mentioned,
Governor in the case aforesaid, such persons, not less than six nor
more than twelve in number, as to him may seem expedient, to be
members of Council for the purpose of making laws and regula-
tions only ; and such persons shall not be entitled to sit or vote at
any meeting of Council, except at meetings held for such purpose :

Provided, that not less than one-half of the persons so nominated

shall be non-official persons, that is, persons who, at the date of
such nomination, shall not be in the civil or military service of the
Crown in India ; and that the seat in Council of any non-official
member accepting office under the Crown in India shall be
vacated on such acceptance.
Such member
11 "
n Every additional member of Councilso nominated shall

ed for^two ^ e summoned to meetings held for the purpose of making laws

all

years. and regulations, for the term of two years from the date of such
nomination.

Resignation 12. be lawful for any such additional member of

It shall
nal ^ ounc ^ ffi ce to tne Governor-General; and on accept-
to res ign h* 8
members
ance of such resignation by the Governor-General such office shall
become vacant.
Power to fill 13. On the event of a vacancy occurring by the death, accept-
m ance ^ on^ ce > Or resignation, accepted in manner aforesaid, of any
numbeTof
additional sucn additional member of Council, it shall be lawful for the
members. Governor-General to nominate any person as additional member of
Council in his place, who shall exercise the same functions until
the termination of the term for which the additional member so
dying, accepting office, or resigning was nominated
Provided
:

always, that it shall not be lawful for him by such nomination

to
diminish the proportion of non-official additional members herein-
before directed to be nominated.

14. No law or regulation made by the Governor-General in No law to be-

Council in accordance with the provisions of this Act shall be in valid by

reason of
deemed invalid by reason only that the proportion of non-official number of
additional members hereby provided was not complete at the date non -official
of its introduction to the Council or its enactment. members
being incom-
plete.
15. In the absence of the Governor-General and of the Senior ordi-

president, nominated as aforesaid, the senior ordinary member nary member

of the Council present shall preside at meetings of the Council of Council to-
preside at
for making laws and regulations ; and the power of making laws
meetings forj
and regulations vested in the Governor-General in Council shall making law
be exercised only at meetings of the said Council at which such and regula-
tions in ab-
Governor-General or president, or some ordinary member of sence of
Council and six or more members of the said Council, (including Governor-
under the term members of the Council such additional members General, &C-.

as aforesaid), shall be present ; and in every case of difference of Quorum.

opinion at meetings of the said Council for making laws and
regulations, where three shall be an equality of voices, the
Governor-General, or in his absence the president, and in the
absence of the Governor-General and president such senior ordi-
nary member of Council there presiding, shall have two votes or
the casting vote.

16. The Governor General in Council shall, as soon as con- Governor

veniently may be, appoint a place and time for the first meeting General to
first
of the said Council of the Governor-General for making laws and appoint
meeting for
regulations under this Act, and summon thereto as well the making laws
additional councillors nominated by and under this Act as the and regula-
other members of such Council ; and until such first meeting the tions.

powers now vested in the said Governor-General of India in

Council of making laws and regulations shall and may be exer-
cised in like manner and by the same members as before the
passing of this Act.
17. be lawful for the Governor-General in Council
It shall Power to
from time to time to appoint all other times and places of meeting appoint and
of the Council for the purpose of making laws and regulations adjourn meet-
ings for mak-
under the provisions of this Act, and to adjourn, or from time to
ing laws and
time to authorize such president, or senior ordinary member of regulations.
Council in his absence, to adjourn any meeting for the purpose
of making laws and regulations from time to time and from
place to place.
18. It shall be lawful for the Governor-General in Council Rules for
to make rules for the conduct of business at meetings of tke conduct of
2
 [ 10]
business at Council for the purpose of making laws and regulations under the
such meet-
p rov isions of this Act, prior to the first of such meetings ; but
such rules may be subsequently amended at meetings for the pur-
pose of making laws or regulations, subject to the assent of the
Governor-General; and such rules shall prescribe the mode of
promulgation and authentication of such laws and regulations
:

Provided always, that it shall be lawful for the Secretary of State

in Council to disallow any such rule, and to render it of no effect.
Business to be JQ^ ^
o business shall be transacted at any meeting for the
ur
such^eetings p P
se of making laws and regulations, except as last herein-
before provided, other than the consideration and enactment of
measures introduced in the Council for the purpose of such enact-
ment ; and it shall not be lawful for any member or additional
member to make or for the Council to entertain any motion, unless
such motion be for leave to introduce some measure as aforesaid
into Council, or have reference to some measure actually intro-
duced therein ; Provided always, that it shall not be lawful for
any member or additional member to introduce, without the previ-
ous sanction of the Governor-General, any measure affecting,
1st.The public debt or public revenues of India, or by which
any charge would be imposed on such revenues :

2nd. The religion or religious rights and usages of any class

ofHer Majesty's
subjects in India.
3rd. or maintenance of any part of Her
The discipline
Majesty's Military or Naval Forces :

4th. The relations of the Government with foreign princes

or states.

Assents of 20. When any law or regulation has been made by the
Governor- Council at a meeting for the purpose of making laws and regula-
ti ns as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the Governor-General,
l^^and*!*-
guiations
whether he shall or shall not have been present in Council at the
made at such making thereof, to declare that he assents to the same, or that
meetings. he withholds his assent from the same, or that he reserves the
same for the signification of the pleasure of Her Majesty thereon ;
and no such law or regulation shall have validity until the Governor-
General shall have declared his assent to the same, or until (in the
case of a law or regulation so reserved as aforesaid) Her Majesty
shall have signified her assent to the same to the Governor-General,
through the Secretary of State for India in Council, and such
assent shall have been duly proclaimed by the said Governor-
General.

Pow
21. Whenever any such law
or regulation has been assented
thcTorown to *^7 * ne
Governor-General, he shall transmit to the Secretary of
disallow laws State for India an authentic copy thereof; and ifc shall be lawful
and regula- f or u
^ India er Majesty to signify, through the Secretary of State for
in Counci1 ' her disallowance of such law ; and such disallow-
TOO? melrt*
inga. ance shall make void and annul such law from or after the day
 [11 ]

on which the Governor-General shall make known, by proclamation

or by signification to his Council, that he has received the notifica-
tion of such disallowance by Her Majesty.
22. The Governor-General in Council shall have power at Extent of the
of tha
meetings for the purpose of making laws and regulations as afore- powers
said, and subject to the provisions herein contained, to make laws ^enerania
and regulations for repealing, amending, or altering any laws or Council to
mate laws
regulations whatever now in force or hereafter to be in force in
the Indian territories now under the dominion of Her Majesty, ^*J at* such
and to make laws and regulations for all persons, whether British meetings,
or native, foreigners or others, and for all courts of justice what-
ever, and for all places and things whatever within the said
territories, and for all servants of the Government of India
within the dominions of princes and states in alliance with Her
Majesty*; and the laws and regulations so to be made by the
Governor-General in Council shall control and supersede any laws
and regulations in anywise repugnant thereto which shall have
been made prior thereto by the Governors of the Presidencies of
Fort St. George and Bombay respectively in Council, or the
Governor or Lieutenant-Governor in Council of any presidency
or other territory for which a Council may be appointed, with
power to make laws and regulations, under and by virtue of this
Act Provided always, that the said Governor-General in Council
:

shall not have the power of making any laws or regulations which
shall repeal or in any way affect any of the provisions of this Act :
Or any of the provisions of the Acts of the third and fourth
years of King William the Fourth, chapter eighty-five,
and of the sixteenth and seventeenth years of Her
Majesty, chapter ninety-five, and of the seventeenth and
eighteenth years of Her Majesty, chapter seventy-seven,
which after the passing of this Act shall remain in force :
Or any provisions of the Act of the twenty-first and twenty-
second years of Her Majesty, chapter one hundred and
entitled
" An Act for the better
six, government of
India," or of the Act of the twenty-second and twenty-
third years of Her Majesty, chapter forty-one, to amend
the same :

Or of any Act enabling the Secretary of State in Council to

raise money in the United Kingdom for the Government
of India :

Or of the Acts for punishing mutiny and desertion in Her

Majesty's Army or in Her Majesty's Indian Forces res-
pectively but subject to the provision contained in the
;

Act of the third and fourth years of King William the

Fourth, chapter eighty-five, section seventy-three, res-
pecting the Indian articles of war.
* See also 28 c, s. and 32 & 33 Viet
Viet., 17, 1, .,c. 98, a. 1.
 Or any provisions of any Act* passed in this present session
of Parliament, or hereafter to be passed, in
any wise affect-
ing Her Majesty's Indian territories, or the inhabitants
thereof :

Or which may affect the authority of Parliament, or the con-

titution and rights of the East India
Company, or any
part of the unwritten laws or constitution of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, whereon may
depend in any degree the allegiance of any person to the
Crown of the United Kingdom, or the sovereignty or
dominion of the Crown over any part of the said
territories.
Governor-
General may
2 3. Notwithstanding anything in this Act
iipf..-i/->i r\
contained, it shall
t r

make ordi- " e lawlul for the Governor- General, in cases of emergency, to
Dances having make and promulgate from time to time ordinances for the
peace
force of law in an(j
ent
good government of the said territories or of any part thereof,
su bject however to the restrictions contained in the last preceding
necessityf
section ; and every such ordinance shall have like force of law
with a law or regulation made by the Governor-General in Council,
as by this Act provided, for the space of not more than six months
from its promulgation, unless the disallowance of such ordinance
by Her Majesty shall be earlier signified to the Governor-General
by the Secretary of State for India in Council, or unless such
ordinance shall be controlled or superseded by some law or regu-
lation made by the Governor-General in Council at a
meeting for
the purpose of making laws and regulations as by this Act
provided.
No law, &c. 24. No law or regulation made by the Governor-General in
Council (subject to the power of disallowance by the Crown, as
reason ofits
affecting the
herein-before provided,) shall be deemed invalid by reason only
prerogative that it affects the prerogative of the Crown.
of the Crown.
25. Whereas doubts have been entertained whether the
Governor-General of India, or the Governor- General of India in
Council, had the power of making rules, laws, and regulations for
"
the territories known from time to time as Non-Kegulation
Provinces/' except at meetings for making laws and regulations
in conformity with the provisions of the said Acts of the third
and fourth years of King William the Fourth, chapter eighty-five,
and of the sixteenth and seventeenth years of Her Majesty,
chapter ninety-five, and whether the Governor, or Governor in
Council, or Lieutenant-Governor of any presidency or part of
Laws made India, had such power in respect of any such territories Be it :

for the non- enacted, that no rule, law, or regulation which prior to the

passing of this Act shall have been made by the Governor-

regulation

General, or Governor-General in Council, or by any other of the

lid?"

* v. Msares 14 Beng. 106, 112.

Queen 4i
 [13]
and in respect of any such non-regulation
authorities aforesaid, for
deemed invalid only by reason of the same not
province, shall be
having been made in conformity with the provisions of the said
Acts, or of any other Act of Parliament respecting the constitu-
tion and powers of the Council of India or of the Governor-
General, or respecting the powers of such Governors, or Governors
in Council, or Lieutenant- Governors as aforesaid.

26. It shall be lawful for the Governor- General in Council, Provision for
or Governor in Council of either of the Presidencies, as the case ave of
J

^
may be, to grant to an ordinary member of Council leave of
ordinary
absence, under medical certificate, for a period not exceeding six member of
months j and such member, during his absence, shall retain his Council,

and shall, on his return and resumption of his duties, re-

office,
ceive half his salary* for the period of such absence ; but if his
absence shall exceed six months, his office shall be vacated.

27. If any vacancy shall happen in the office of an ordinary Power of

1 1
member of the Council of the Governor-General, or of the Council f
^^
of either of the Presidencies, when no person provisionally appoint- appointments
ed to succeed thereto shall be then present on the spot, then, and of members of
on every such occasion, such vacancy shall be supplied by the Council &c > >

appointment of the Governor-General in Council, or the Governor

in Council as the case may be ; and until a successor shall arrive
the person so nominated shall execute the office to which he shall
have been appointed, and shall have all the powers thereof, and
shall have and be entitled to the salary and other emoluments and
advantages appertaining to the said office during his continuance
therein, every such temporary member of Council foregoing all
salaries and allowances by him held and enjoyed at the time of
his being appointed to such office ; and if any ordinary member
of the Council of the Governor-General, or of the Council of either
of the Presidencies, shall, by any infirmity or otherwise, be
rendered incapable of acting or of attending to act as such, or if
any such member shall be absent on leave, and if any person shall
have been provisionally appointed as aforesaid, then the place of
such member absent or unable to attend shall be supplied by such
person ; and if no person provisionally appointed to succeed to
the office shall be then on the spot, the Governor -General in
Council, or Governor in Council, as the case may be, shall appoint
some person to be a temporary member of Council ; and, until
the return of the member so absent or unable to attend, the person
so provisionally appointed by the Secretary of State in Council,
or so appointed by the Governor-General in Council, or Governor
in Council as the case may be, shall execute the office to which
he shall have been appointed, and shall have all the powers
thereof, and shall receive half the salary of the member of Council
* See 3 & 4 Wm. IV, c. 85, B. 77, supra, p, 239.
 [ 14]
whose place he supplies, and also half the salary of his office
under the Government of India, or the Government of either of
the Presidencies, as the case may be, if he hold any such office,
the remaining half of such last-named salary being at the dis-
posal of the Government of India, or other Government as afore-
said Provided always, that no person shall be appointed a
:

temporary member of the said Council who might not have been
appointed as hereinbefore provided to fill the vacancy supplied by
such temporary appointment.

Governors of 28. It shall be lawful for the Governors of the Presidencies

Fort Saint of Fort Saint George and Bombay, respectively, from time to time
&
Bomba ^na
* ma^ e ru^ es an^ orders for the conduct of business in their
make ^ruies^ Councils, and any order made or act done in accordance with such
for the con- directions
(except as herein-after provided respecting laws and
duct of busi-
regulations) shall be deemed to be the order or act of the
the ' r
SZcU, Governor in Council.

Power ^to 29. For the better exercise of the power of making laws and
regulations herein-after vested in the Governors of the said Pre-
s ^encies in Council respectively, each of the said Governors

the Councils shall, in addition to the members whereof his Council now by law
of Fort Saint consists, or
may consist, termed herein ordinary members, nomi-
nate * ^ e additional members the Advocate-Genera^ of the Presi-
Bomba **or
or officer acting in that capacity, and such other persons,
th^ur^oses dency,
of making not less than four nor more than eight in number, as to him may
laws and seem expedient, to be members of Council, for the purpose of
regulations.
maki n g j aws an(j regulations only ; and such members shall not be
entitled to sit or vote at any meeting of Council, except at meet-
ings held for such purpose; provided, that not less than half of
the persons so nominated shall be non-official persons, as herein-
before described ; and that the seat in Council of any non-official
member accepting office under the Crown in India shall be vacated
on such acceptance.
Such mem- 30. Every additional member of Council so nominated shall
berstobe summoned to all meetings held for the purpose of making laws
^ an ^ }JQ

regulations for the term of two years the date of such nomi-
twoyears
nation.

Besignation 31. It shall be lawful for any such additional member of

of additional
C ounc il to resign his office to the Governor of the Presidency ; and
bers>
on acceptance of such resignation by the Governor of the Presi-
dency such office shall become vacant.
Power to fill 32. On
the event of a vacancy occurring by the death,
up vacancy in
acceptance of or resignation accepted in manner aforesaid,
office,
ddid f any such additional member of Council, it shall be lawful for
members, the Governor of the Presidency to summon any person as addition-
al member of Council in his place, who shall exercise the same
 [
15 ]

functions until the termination of the term for which the additional
member so dying, accepting office, or resigning, was nominated :

Provided always, it shall not be lawful for him by such nomination

to diminish the proportion of non-official members herein-before
directed to be nominated.

33. No law or regulation made by any such Governor in No law to be

mvalld bv
Council in accordance with the provisions of this Act shall be .

, ,1 ,1 , ,. f ? ^ reason of in-
deemed invalid by reason only that the proportion of non-official completeness
additional members hereby established was not complete at the of number of
non-official
date of its introduction to the Council or its enactment.
members.
34. At any meeting of the Council of either of the said Senior civil
Presidencies from which the Governor shall be absent, the senior ^^er of
civil ordinary member of Council present shall preside ; and the council to
power of making laws and regulations hereby vested in such preside in
absence of
Governor in Council shall be exercised only at meetings of such
Council at which the Governor or some ordinary member of
pudency.
Council, and four or more members of Council (including under
the term members of Council such additional members as afore-
said), shall be present ; and in any case of difference of opinion at
meetings of any such Conncil for making laws and regulations,,
where there shall be an equality of voices, the Governor, or in his
absence the senior member then presiding, shall have two votes
or the casting vote.

35. The Governor-General in Council shall, as soon as con- Governor-

General to fix
veniently may be, appoint the time for the first meeting of the s
Conncils of Fort Saint George and Bombay respectively, for the J; c o^ncns^
purpose of making laws and regulations under this Act ; and the of Presiden-
Governors of the said Presidencies respectively shall summon to. cies f or mak>
such meeting as well the additional Councillors appointed by an
under this Act as the ordinary members of the said Councils. &c.
36. It shall be lawful for every such Governor to appoint all Governors of
S1(
subsequent times and places of meeting of his Council for the ^
purpose of making laws and regulations under the provisions of sub^q^ent
this Act, and to adjourn or from time to time to authorize such meetings,
senior ordinary member of Council in his absence to adjourn any and adjourn
fc

meeting for making laws and regulations from time to time and
from place to place. .

37. Previously to the first of such meetings of their Councils Rules for
for the purpose of making laws and regulations under the provi- conduct of
sions of this Act, the Governors of the said Presidencies in gu'iT
Council respectively shall make rules for the conduct of business ings.
at such meetings, subject to the sanction of the Governor-General
in Council; but such rules may be subsequently amended at
meetings for the purpose of making laws and regulations, subject
to the assent of the Governor : Provided always, that it shall be
 [ 16 ]

lawful for the Governor- General in Council to disallow any such

rule, and render the same of no effect.

Business to 38. No business shall be transacted at any meeting" of the

be transacted Council of either of the said Presidencies for the purpose of
k"
ing laws and regulations (except as last herein-before provid-
ed) other than the consideration and enactment of measures intro-
duced into such Council for the purpose of such enactment ; and it
shall not be lawful for any member or additional member to make, or
for the Council to entertain, any motion, unless such motion shall
be for leave to introduce some measure as aforsaid into Council, or
have reference to some measure actually introduced thereinto ;
Provided always, that it shall not be lawful for any member or
additional member to introduce, without the previous sanction of
the Governor, any measure affecting the public revenues of the
Presidency, or by which any charge shall be imposed on such
revenues.
Governors to 39, Whenany law or regulation has been made by any such
assent
to^laws
c ounc il at a meeting for the purpose of making laws and regula-
tions - tions as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the Governor, whether he
sidencies. shall or shall not have been present in Council at such meeting, .to
declare that he assents to, or withholds his assent from the same.

Governor- 40. The Governor shall transmit forthwith an authentic

General to
copy of every law or regulation to which he shall have so declared
*" s assent to the Governor-General ; and no such law or regulation
tions of Pre- shall have validity until the Governor-General shall have assented
sidencies. thereto, and such assent shall have been signified by him to and
published by the Governor Provided always, that in every case
:

where the Governor-General shall withhold his assent from any

such law or regulation, he shall signify to the Governor in writing
his reason for so withholding his assent.

Power of the 41 Whenever any such law or regulation shall have been
.

Crown to assented to by the Governor-General, he shall transmit to the

Secretary of State for India an authentic copy thereof; audit
tions of Pre- shall be lawful for Her Majesty to signify, through the Secretary
sidencies. o f State for India in Council, her disallowance of such law or
regulation ; and such disallowance shall make void and annul
such law or regulation from or after the day on which such
Governor shall make known by proclamation, or by signification
to the Council that he has received the notification of such dis-
allowance by Her Majesty.

Extent of 42. The Governor of each of the said Presidencies in Council

power of shall have power, at meetings for the purpose of making laws
and regulations as aforesaid, and subject to the provisions herein
Council to contained, to make la ws arid regulations for the peace and good
make laws, government of such Presidency, and for that purpose to repeal
 [ 17]
and amend any laws and regulations made prior to the coming and regnla-
into operation of this Act by any authority in India, so far as tions.
they affect such Presidency Provided always, that such Governor
:

in Council shall not have the power of making any laws or regu-
"

lations which shall in any way affect any of the provisions of this
Act, or of any other Act of Parliament in force or hereafter to be
in force in such Presidency.

43. It shall not be lawful for the Governor in Council of Governor of

either of the aforesaid Presidencies, except with the sanction of Presidency,
the Governor General, previously communicated to him, to make ganction^of
regulations or take into consideration any law or regulation for Governor-
any of the purposes next herein-after mentioned ; that is to say, General, not

1. Affecting the public debt of India, or the customs duties, take into
or any other tax or duty now in force and imposed by consideration
la s
the authority of the Government of India for the- a ti ons f or" j
general purposes of such Government ; certain pur-

2. of the current or the issue of P ses

Regulating any coin, any
bills, notes, or other paper currency :

8. Regulating the conveyance of letters by the post office or

messages by the electric telegraph within the Presi-
dency :

4. Altering in any way the Penal Code of India, as established

by Act of the Governor General in Council, No. 42*
of 1860 :

5. Affecting the religion or religious rites and usages of any

class of Her Majesty's subjects in India :

6. Affecting the discipline or maintenance of any part of

Her Majesty's Military or Naval Forces :

7. Regulating patents or copyright :

8. Affecting the relations of the Government with foreign

princes or states :

Provided always, that no law or provision of any law or regu-

lation which shall have been made by any such Governor in
Council, and assented to by the Governor General as aforesaid,
shall be deemed invalid only by reason of its relating to any of
the purposes comprised in the above list.

44. The Governor General in Council, so soon as it shall appear Governor-

to him expedient, shall,by proclamation, extend the provisions General may
of this Act touching themaking of laws and regulations for the ^ouncHa fo
peace and good government of the Presidencies of Fort Saint mak^ng^awa
George and Bombay to the Bengal division of the Presidency of and regnia-
Fort William, and shall specify in such proclamation the period tions in th *

* Should be " No. 45."

 [ 18]
Presidency of at which such provisions shall take effect,* and the number of
counc ^ rs wnom the Lieutenant Governor of the said division

may nominate for his assistance in making laws and regulations ;

and it shall be further lawful for the Governor General Council, m
from time to time and in his discretion, by similar proclamation,
to extend the same provisions to the territories known as the
North- Western Provinces and the Punjab respectively.

Constitution 45. Whenever such proclamation as aforesaid shall have been

issued regarding the said division or territories respectively, the
Lieutenant Governor thereof shall nominate, for his assistance in
making laws and regulations, such number of councillors as shall
be in such proclamation specified ; provided, that not less than one-
third of such councillors shall in every case be non-official persons,
as herein-befo r e described, and that the nomination of such coun-
cillors shall be subject to the sanction of the Governor General ;
and provided further, that at any meeting of any such Council
from which the Lieutenant Governor shall be absent, the member
highest in official rank among those who may hold office under the
Crown shall preside ; and the power of making laws and regula-
tions shall be exercised only at meetings at which the Lieutenant
Governor, or some member holding office as aforesaid, and not less
than one-half of the members of Council so summoned as aforesaid,
shall be present ; and in any case of difference of opinion at any
meetings of such Council for making laws and regulations, where
there shall be an equality of voices, the Lieutenant Governor, or
such member highest in official rank as aforesaid then presiding,
shall have two votes or the casting vote.

Power to 46. It shall be lawful for the Governor General, by procla-

constitute mation as aforesaid, to constitute from time to time new provinces
new provin- for the purposes of this Act, to which the like provisions shall be
ces, and
appoint applicable ; and further to appoint from time to time a Lieutenant
Lieutenant- Governor to any province so constituted as aforesaid, and from
Governors. time to time to declare and limit the extent of the authority of
such Lieutenant Governor, inlikemanner as is provided by the
Act of the seventeenth and eighteenth years of Her Majesty,
chapter seventy-seven, respecting the Lieutenant Governors of
Bengal and the North-western Provinces.
Power to alter 47. it shall be lawful for the Governor General in Council,
^J suc ^ proclamation as aforesaid, to fix the limits of any presi-
Ac. by pro- dency, division, province, or territory in India for the purpose
clamation. of this Act, and further by proclamation to divide or alter from
time to time the limits of any such presidency, division, province,
or territory for the said purposes Provided always, that any law
:

or regulation made by the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor in

* 28th
January, 1892, see Calcutta Gazette, 1862, pp, 257, 228.
 t 19]
Council of any presidency, division, province, or territory shall
continue in force in any part thereof which may be severed there-
from by any such proclamation, until superseded by law or regu-
lation of the Governor General in Council, or of the Governor or
Lieutenant Governor in Council of the presidency, division, pro-
vince, or territory, to which such parts may become annexed.

48. It shall be lawful for every such Lieutenant Governor Powers of

in Council thus constituted to make laws for the peace and good newly consti*
* uted L eu*
governmentii of his respective
T i
division, province, or territory, and.
F -11 -i i TI ,1
, I
tenant-GoV"
except as otherwise herein- oef ore specially provided, all the pro- e mora in
visions in this Act contained respecting the nomination of ad- Council,
ditional members for the purpose of making laws and regulations
for the Presidencies of Fort Saint George and and
Bombay,
limiting the power of the Governors in Council of Fort Saint
George and Bombay for purpose of making laws and regulations,
and respecting the conduct of business in the meetings of such
Councils for that purpose, and respecting the power of the
Governor General to declare or withhold his assent to laws or
regulations made by the Governor in Council of Fort Saint George
and Bombay, and respecting the power of Her Majesty to disallow
the same, shall apply to laws or regulations to be so made by any
such Lieutenant-Governor in Council.

49. Provided always, that no proclamation to be made by Previous as-

the Governor General in Council under the provisions of this Act sent of the
for the purpose of constituting any Council for the Crown neces-
presidency, 8
8
division, provinces, or territories herein-before named, or any validity ^
other provinces, or for altering the boundaries of any presidency, proclamation,
division, province, or territory, or constituting any new province
for the purpose of this Act, shall have any force or validity until
the sanction of Her Majesty to the same shall have been previ-
ously signified by the Secretary of State in Council to the
Governor General.
50. If any vacancy shall happen in the office of Governor
provision for
General of India when no provisional successor shall be India to the supply of
the office of
supply such vacancy, then and in every such case the Governor
of the Presidency of Fort Saint George or the Governor of the
GeneraTin
Presidency of Bombay who shall have been first appointed to the certain cir-
office of Governor by Her Majesty, shall hold and execute the said cumstances.
office of Governor General of India and Governor of the
Presidency
of Fort William in Bengal until a successor shall arrive, or until
some person in India shall be duly appointed thereto ; and every
such acting Governor General shall, during the time of his con-
tinuing to act as such, have and exercise
all the rights and
powers
of Governor General of India, and shall be entitled to receive the
emoluments and advantages appertaining to the office. by him sup-
plied, such acting Governor-General foregoing the salary and
 [ 20]
allowances appertaining to the office of Governor to which he stands
appointed ; and such office of Governor shall be supplied for the
time during which such Governor shall be supplied for the time
which such Governor shall act as Governor General, in the
manner directed in section sixty-three of the Act of the third and
fourth years of King William the Fourth, chapter eighty-five.

If it appears to
5^ If,on such vacancy occuring, it shall appear to the
the Governor -. % ,
who by
.
,
./ .
A F \i i ^i f
virtue of this Act shall hold and execute the
necessary to Governor,
exercise said office of Governor General, necessary to exercise the powers
powers before thereof before he shall have taken his seat in Council, it shall be
eeaUn Coun- l aw M
f r him to make known by proclamation his appointment

oil, he may and his intention to assume the said office of Governor General ;
make his and after such proclamation, and thenceforth until he shall repair
to the P lace where the Council maJ assemble, it shall be lawful
Ac^kno'wn'by
proclamation, for him to exercise alone all or any of the powers which might
be
exercised by the Governor General in Council, except the power
of making laws and regulations ; and all acts done in the exercise
of the said powers, except as aforesaid, shall be of the same force
and effect as if they had been done by the Governor General in
Council ; provided, that all acts done in the said Council after the
date of such proclamation, but before the communication thereof
to such Council, shall be valid, subject nevertheless to revocation
or alteration by such Governor who shall have so assumed the
said office of Governor General ; and from the date of the vacancy
occurring, until such Governor shall have assumed the said office
of Governor General, the provisions of section sixty-two of the
Act of the third and fourth years of King William the Fourth,
chapter eighty-five, shall be and the same are declared to be
applicable to the case.

Nothing in 52. Nothing in this Act contained shall be held to derogate

this Act shall
f rom or interfere with (except as herein-bef ore expressly provided)

fronftlHs * ne rights vested in Her Majesty, or the powers of the Secretary

powers of of State for India in Council, in relation to the government of

the Crown of jj er
Majesty's dominions in India, under any law in force at the
State ^7 date ^ the P ass i n g of this Act ; and all things which shall be
India in done by Her Majesty, or by the Secretary of State as aforesaid,
Council? in relation to such government, shall have the same force and
validity as if this Act had not been passed.

Meaning of 53. Wherever any act or thing is by this Act required or

authorized to be done by the Governor General or by the Gover-
Council*"
nors of the Presidencies of Fort Saint George and Bombay in
Council, it is not required that such act or thing should be done
at a meeting for making laws and
regulations, unless where ex-
pressly provided.
 32 & 33 VICTORIA, CHAPTER 93.

An Act to define the powers of the Governor-General of India -*n

Council at meetings for making laws and regulations for certain

purposes. [llth August, 1869.]

WHEREAS doubts have arisen as to the extent of power of the

Governor- General of India in Council to make laws binding upon
native Indian subjects beyond the Indian territories under the
dominion of Her Majesty :

And whereas it is expedient that better provision should

be made in other respects for the exercise of the power of the
Governor-General in Council :

Be it enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and

with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the
authority of the same, as follows :

1. From and after the passing of this Act, the Governor-

General of India in Council shall have
Power to make laws for
power at meetings for the purpose of mak-
^^t^^-
ries.
S la ws and regulations to make laws and
, f f
regulations for all persons being native
Indian subjects of Her Majesty, Her heirs
and successors, without and beyond as well as within the Indian
territories under the dominion of Her Majesty.

2. No law heretofore passed

by the Governor-General of
or by the Governors of Madras and
India,
Former laws to be valid. Bombay, respectively in Council, shall be
deemed to be invalid solely by reason of its
having reference to native subjects of Her Majesty not within the,
Indian territories under the dominion of Her Majesty,

3.Notwithstanding anything in the Indian Councils Act or

in any other Act of Parliament contained,
Power to repeal or am- anv j aw or
e n C n8 regulation which shall hereafter
Hnd 4 w?4 c? 85? ,
be made b 7 the Governor-General in Coun-
cil in manner in the said Indian Councils
Act provided shall not be invalid by reason only that it may
repeal or affect any of the provisions of the said Act of the third
and fourth years of King William the Fourth, chapter eighty-five,
contained in sections eighty-one, eighty-two, eighty-three, eighty-
four, eighty-five and eighty-six of the said Act.
 [ 206 ]

33 VICTORIA, CHAPTER 3.

An Act maize letter provision for making laws and regulations for
to
certain parts of India, and for certain other purposes relating
thereto. [25th March 1870.]
WHEREAS it is expedient that provision should be made to enable
Governor-General of India in Council to make regulations for the
peace and good government of certain territories in India, other-
wise than at meetings for the purpose of making laws and regu-
lations held under the provisions of the Indian Councils Act, 1861,
and also for certain other purposes connected with the Govern-
ment of India :

Beenacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and

it
with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the
authority of the same, as follows :

1. Every Governor of a Presidency in Council, Lieuten-

ant-Governor, or Chief Commissioner,
Power to Executive Gov- whether the
n Governorship, or Lieutenant-
kelgoJ for Governorship, or Chief Conimissionership
certain parts thereof. be now in existence or may hereafter be
established, shall have power to propose
to the Governor-General in Council drafts of any regulations,
together with the reasons for proposing the same, for the peace
&nd government of any part or parts of the territories under his
Government or Administration to which the Secretary of State
for India shall from time to time by resolution in Council declare
the provisions of this section to be applicable from any date to
be fixed in such resolution.
And the Governor-General in Council shall take such drafts
and reasons into consideration ; and when any such draft shall
have been approved of by the Governor-General in Council, and
shall have received the Governor-General's assent, it shall be
published in the Gazette of India and in the local Gazette, and
shall thereupon have like force of law and be subject to the like
disallowances as if it had been made by the Governor-General of
India in Council at a meeting for the purpose of making laws and
regulations.
The Secretary of State for India in Council may from time
to timewithdraw such power from any Governor, Lieutenaxit-
Governor or Chief Commissioner, on whom it has been conferred,
and may from time to time restore the same as he shall think fit.
2. The Governor-General shall transmit to the Secretary of
State for India in Council an authen tic
Copies of regu^a' ions to
be sent to Secretary of CO PJ o* every regulation which shall have
state. been made under the provisions of this Act ;
Subsequent enactments an(j a]j j aws or regulations hereafter made
to control regulations.
b ^ Governor .(feneral of India in Coun ,
 [ 20c]

oil, whetherat a meeting for the purpose of making laws and

regulations, or under the said provisions, shall control and super-
sede any regulation in anywise repugnant thereto which shall have
been made under the same provisions.
3. Whenever the Governor-General in Council shall hold~a
meeting for the purpose of making laws
Lieutenant-Governors and regulations at any place within the
and Chief Commissioners
to be members ex-officio of limits of any territories now or hereafter
the Governor General's placed under the administration of a
Council for the purpose of Lieutenant-Governor or a Chief Commis-
making laws and regula-
tions' sioner, the Lieutenant-Governor or Chief
Commissioner respectively shall be ex-officio
and Additional Member of the Council of the Governor-General
for that purpose, in excess (if necessary) of the maximum number
of twelve spcified by the said Act.

4. Section forty-nine of the Act of the third and fourth

Section 49, of 3 and 4

years of King William the Fourth, chapter
W. 4, c. 85 repealed. eighty-five, is hereby repealed.

5, Whenever any measure shall be proposed before the

Governor-General of India in Council
Procedure in case of
whereby the safety, tranquillity, or interests
difference between the
of the British possessions in India, or any
Governor -General and the
majority of his Council. part thereof, are or may be, in the judg-
ment of the said Governor General essenti-
ally affected, and he shall be of opinion either that the measure
proposed ought to be adopted and carried into execution, or that
it ought to be suspended or rejected, and the Majority in Council
then present shall dissent from such opinion, the Governor-General
may on his own authority and responsibility, suspend or reject the
measure in part or in whole, or adopt and carry it into execu-
tion, but in every such case any two members of the dissentient
majority may require that the said suspension, rejection, or adop-
tion, as well as the fact of their dissent, shall be notified to the
Secretary of State for India, and such notification shall be accom-
panied by copies of the minutes (if any) which the Members of
the Council shall have recorded on the subject.

6. Whereas it is expedient that additional facilities should

be given for the employment of natives of
Power to appoint na- India, of
proved merit and ability, in the
tives of India to certain
Civil Service of Her Majesty in India : Be
offices without certificate " Act for
from the Civil Service it enacted, that nothing in the
1
Commissioners. the Government of India/ twenty-one and
twenty-two Victoria, chapter one hundred
and six, or in the "Act to confirm certain appointments in
India, and to amend the law concerning the Civil Service there,"
twenty-four and twenty-five Victoria, chapter fifty-four, or in any
other Act of Parliament or other law now in force in India, shall
restrain the authorities in India by whom appointments are or may
be made to offices, places, and employments in the Civil Service
of Her Majesty in India from appointing any native of India to
any such office, place, oremployment, although such native shall
not have been admitted to the said Civil Service of India
in manner in section thirty-two of the first-mentioned Act
provided but subject to such rules as may be from time to time
prescribed by the Governor-General in Council, and sanctioned
by the Secretary of State in Council, with the concurrence of a
majority of members present ;" and that for the purpose of this Act
the words " natives of India shall include any person born and
domiciled within the dominions of Her Majesty in India, of parents
habitually resident in India, and not established there for tempo-
rary purposes only ; and that it shall be lawful for the Governor-
General in Council to define and limit from time to time the
of India thus expressed ; provided that
qualification of native
every resolution made by him for such purpose shall be subject to
the sanction of the Secretary of State in Council, and shall not
have force until it has been laid for thirty days before both
Houses of Parliament.

34 & 35 VICTORIA, CHAPTER 34.

An Act to extend in certain respects the power of Local Legisla-

tures in India as regards European British sublects.

[29th June 1871.]

WHEREAS it is expedient that the power of making laws and
regulations conferred on Governors of Presidencies in India in
Council by the Indian Councils Act, 24 & 25 Viet., c. 67, sec. 42,
should in certain respects be extended :

Be it enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and

with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the
authority of the same, as follows :

1. No law or regulation heretofore made or hereafter to

be made by any Governor or Lieutenant-
Power to Local Legisla- Governor in Council in India in manner
tures to confer Jdic-
turn over European British preS cribed
f ,. , ,
by the aforesaid
</
,
Act shall be
* A r
subjects to magistrates in invalid only by reason that it confers on
certain cases. magistrates, being justices of the peace, the
same jurisdiction over European British
subjects as such Governor or Lieutenant-Governor in Council, by
regulations made as aforesaid, could have lawfully conferred or
could lawfully confer on magistrates in the exercise of authority
over natives in the like cases.
 [ 20e]

When evidence has been given in any proceeding under

this Act before a magistrate, being a justice

Eto^n
British subject) to the
f ** V*>,
*or the
.^<* *PP* to be sufficient
conviction of the accused person,
High Court. being an European British subject, of an
( a A N XXV offence for wnicn > if a native, he would
f l86i s 226 )'
under existing law be triable exclusively
before the Court of Sessions, or which, in the opinion of the
magistrate, is one
which ought to be tried by the High Court, the
accused person, if such European British subject, shall be sent for
trial by the magistrate before the High Court.

3. And whereas by an Act passed by the Governor-General

of India in Council, Indian Act No. XXII
Power to local Legisia- f 1870 ifc ig prov id e d that certain Act*
tures to amend and repeal . -ii n
heretofore passed by the Governors of
P
certain laws.
Madras and Bombay respectively in Coun-
cil, and by the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal in Council,
shall, so far as regards the liability of European British subjects
to be convicted and punished thereunder, be and be deemed
to be as valid as if they had been passed by the Governor-
General of India in Council at a meeting for the purpose of
making laws and regulations Be it further enacted, that the said
:

Governors and Lieutenant-Governor in Council respectively shall

have power to repeal and amend any of the said Act so declared
valid, by Acts to be passed under the provisions of the Indian
Councils Act.
 Memorandum by the British Committee of the
Indian National Congress:

THE INDIAN COUNCILS BILL.

(June 1892.)
THE India Councils has now become law, and the condi-
Bill
tionsunder which its most important provision is to be carried out
have been left to the discretion of the authorities in India itself.
That provision refers to the extension of the Councils taken in
" Northbrook
connection with the Clause," which permits such
extension to be carried out under definite regulations to be framed
by the Viceroy. The venue of the controversy has thus for the
time been transferred to India, and it becomes the function of the
public in each Presidency and Province to place its views before
the Viceroy through its local government, and . endeavour to
obtain a full and real measure of representation. In this connec-
tionit is of the first importance to note that the House of Commons

not only does not contemplate any limitation of the discretion of

the Indian authorities, but anticipates that their discretion will be
used in a spirit of genuine liberality. These views are not embo-
died in the Bill, literatim et verbatim, but must be gathered from
the speeches of representative men of both parties in the debates
in both Houses. The more important of these declarations
are collected in the following catena of extracts, which at once
exhibits the history of the growth of the doctrine of
" election
or selection," and demonstrates the clearness with which it
was finally enunciated.

The " Councils in India Bill" was introduced and read a first
time in the House of Lords on the 21st February, 1890. The Bill
came up for second reading on March 6th, when the question as
to the mode in which the
" additional" members should be
ap-
pointed was first mooted. On that occasion the Earl of North-
brook said :<*

cf
late been proposals made to widen the area
There have of
of the Legislative Council I mean by that to increase consider-
ably the numbers of the non-official members ; and it has also
been suggested that some sytsem of election or selection, other
than that of simple nomination, should be applied to the choice of
the non-official members I regret very much that the
Government has not been enabled to introduce into this Bill any
system whatever by which a portion of the non-official members
of the Local Legislatures, at any rate, could be chosen
by some
 [ 22 ]

system of election or selection, and not left entirely to a system

of pure nomination I venture to express the
hope
that it may not be impossible for Her Majesty's Government to
reconsider that portion of the Bill, and that they may think it
would not be right to shut the door, as would be done by this
Bill, to the introduction of some system of selection or election
into the subordinate Legislative Councils, at any rate. I have
no hesitation in saying that, with proper safeguards, some
system of selection of that kind might be safely carried out.
. . . I myself would suggest that it might be possible to
.

introduce a clause into the Bill enabling the Viceroy in Council

in India to submit some scheme for the election of part or the
whole of the non-official members of the Local Legislatures, for
the consideration of the Secretary of State for India in Council,
and after the approval of the Secretary of State for India in
Council was given it might be carried into effect by proclama-
tion."

Following him the Marquis of Eipon said :

" With
respect to the mode in which any extension of
members in tjie Governor-General's Council or in the Local
Councils should be carried out, I agree very much with what fell
from my noble friend the Earl of Northbrook, and I earnestly
hope Her Majesty's Government will give great weight to what he
has said and to the appeal which he has made to them to
reconsider the frame of this clause so as to render it possible
for the Government of India to introduce into the Local
Governments especially, and I would go to the extent of saying
the Governor-General's Council also, the principle of election or
selection, whichever you may call it. Your lordships may remember
that, if some such power is not given in this Bill, it will require a
fresh Act of Parliament before any change of that kind can be
introduced into even the Local Councils Therefore I go
quite along with my noble friend in saying that you should make
such a Bill as this an empowering Bill ; that you should lay down
the principle on which these Councils are to be constituted, but
that you should leave the details as much as you can to be arranged
by the Government and Legislatures of India."
The demand thus clearly and unequivocally made was sup-
ported by the Earl of Kimberley and Lord Stanley of Alderley.
The opposite contention of the Government was maintained by
Lords Salisbury and Cross. Both speeches were, in form at least,
opposed to the popular request, and need not therefore be quoted
here ; but there was one striking difference between them, a
difference which was pointed out at the moment by the late Earl
Granville. He said :

" remark upon how very

My lords, it is impossible not to
much more strongly the noble Marquess has met the objections
 [23]
which have been stated upon this side of the House than ha's
been done by the noble Secretary of State for the India Depart-
ment. Really, the speech of the noble Marquis (Salisbury) puts
an sbsolute stop to any such suggestion as has been made. I
think that argument has been put a little too high in this sense :-

it would be really supposed that the suggestion made by the noble

Earl (Northbeok) behind me, and which was supported by the
noble Marquis (Ripon) who, of course, was speaking with
immense weight and authority upon this particular subject, was,
as far as this is concerned, that the House
House should
amend send out a complete cut and dried Parlia-
the Bill and
mentary constitution for India upon this occasion. But
against that my noble friend the Earl of Northbrook
specially guarded himself, and he pointed
out that we were
not in a position to judge how anything of this kind
was to be carried out, but that it was desirable to give the
Viceroy, or the Governor, or Lieutenant-Governor, more power
than he now possesses in order to carry out any such matters.
It appears to me that the noble Marquis (Ripon) in his speech,
has dealt with the matter with great authority and weight."
In fact, while the speech of the Marquis of Salisbury was
uncompromising in its hostility, that of Viscount Cross was
marked by great generality, and was evidently intended to leave
a loophole of escape, if necessary, in the future.
This discussion is of extreme importance in connection with
the Committee stage of the Bill ; but before passing on to that,
ittention must be called to a very important passage in the speech
of Lord Salisbury, as follows :

What appeared to me to be most alarming in the reasoning

;c

of the noble lords opposite was that they seemed to think they
could stumble and slip into this great change, and that no harm
would come to them if they had not taken count beforehand
where their steps were to be placed or in what direction their
journey was to be taken. Ycm must not drift into an elective
Government of India. You must make up your mind how you
are to frame your constituencies, how those vast interests are to
be represented, before you consign yourselves to the charge,
and Government of the most powerful principle that affects
political communities. Do not imagine that you can intro-
duce it in small doses, and that it will be satisfied by that
concession. At least we know this of the elective principle
from our experience in Europe, that wherever it has made
for itself a small channel it has been able to widen and
widen that channel gradually until all has been carried before
it, and that is the danger of any action you may take in India.
I hope we shall not imagine that when once we have
consigned
ourselves to this principle, we can retrace out steps or take away
 [24]
the powers that we have given, or that we can undo the result
of any mistake we may make. I, therefore, earnestly urge upon
the House not to make so great a change without the most careful
and circumspect examination of all the difficulties and dangers
which surround it ; not to slip into this great innovation as it
were accidentally. But if we are to do it, if it has to be done,
let us do it systematically, counting the cost,
examining all the
details, and taking care that the machinery to be provided shall
effectthe purpose of giving representation, not to accidentally
constituted bodies, not to small sections of the people here and
there, but to the living strength and vital forces of the whole
community of India."
Nowthis warning must be held to be addressed, not only
to the noble lords opposite in 1890, but to Liberals and Conser-
vatives, peers and commoners, alike, in 1892, after a period of
two years for " careful and circumspect examination". The
Government and their supporters in India are now completely
estopped from setting up any defence of having stumbled or
slipped into any great change, they have walked into it with
their eyes open, and with full premeditation. And since they
have done so their duty now is to carry out the precept of the
" the
Premier, by giving representation to living strength and vital
"
forces of the whole community
The House proceeded to consider the Bill in Committee on
March 13 when, with the view of making it quite clear that it
;

would be legal for the various heads of Governments to nominate

persons recommended to them by various (unspecified) public
bodies, the Earl of Northbrook moved to add the following words
" the Northbrook
(since commonly called Clause") to Clause 1 of
the Bill.

"Provided that the Governor-General in Council may from

time to time, Secretary of State in
with the approval of the
Council, regulations as to the conditions under which such
make
nominations or any of them shall be made by the Governor-
General, Governors, and Lieutenant-Governors, respectively, and
describe the manner in which such regulations shall be carried
into effect."
In accepting this amendment, Viscount Cross said :

"It had always been my intention when this Bill became

law, which I hope will soon be the case, to follow the example
of Sir Charles Wood, and in sending out a copy of the Act
to send with it a despatch pointing out how these members
of Council might very well be nominated so as not only
to give the Governor-General, the Governors, and Lieutenant-
Governors the sufficient additional assistance which they might
of
require, but so as they might get the best representatives
 [25]
the people of the country. But the noble lord has said that
there might be some possible legal difficulty experienced in
carrying that out unless there was something in the Act of
Parliament showing how that might be done. Nothing is farther
from my mind than to leave a legal difficulty open for further
dispute ; therefore, I have not the smallest objection to insert
such words in order to make quite clear the intention, of the
Legislature in passing this Act of Parliament. There is one
further advantage in inserting words of this kind, that it will-
satisfy the people of India that this matter has been thought of
and considered when they find that this particular matter is
referred to in the Act itself, which practically increases the
number of persons to be nominated."
And Earl Kimberley followed thus :?

"
My lords, I am extremely glad to hear that the noble
Viscount will accept the words proposed by the noble lord behind
me. I am bound to say that I can express my satisfaction
because I regard this as to a certain extent admitting the elective
principle. I understand that this Bill will enable the Governor-
General to put into the hands of certain public bodies the selection
of the persons who are to be nominated by him to the Council.
That may not be, strictly speaking, what we should call election,
but I welcome this clause as opening the door, because I should
wish to leave open the door to the Government to practically leave
the selection to bodies who "
will, in fact, elect the representatives.

The Bill was not proceeded with in 1891, but that the Govern-
ment intended to make a strong feature of it in the last session if
the present Parliament became apparent from the debate on the
Address. Earl Dudley, in the House of Lords said " It haa :

been long and carefully considered by the Indian Government,

who are most anxious that Her Majesty's Indian subjects should
have this gradual and judicious extension of- responsibility."
In the Commons it was alluded to by more than one speaker.
Mr. Samuel Smith said :

"
What India needs is some authentic means of expressing
the wishes and feelings of the people, but to get those authentic
means it is absolutely necessary that we should concede in some
form the principle of representation. I hope from some remarks
dropped by the mover of the Address that the principle of re-
presentation is to be conceded in this Bill. This is a most
essential principle. What we want in India as well as in this
country is independent criticism of the action of the Government
in India. It is impossible to get this free criticism by means of
nominative members. Members nominated by the Government
depend upon the Government. Their tenure of office depend a
upon the Government, My belief is that no measure would tend
 [ 26 ]

more to give stability to our rule in India than to graft on our

institutions, gradually and wisely, the system of representative
government. It is quite impossible that this country can further
ignore the educative influences in India. If the Bill which they
hoped to see introduced before long carried out the representa-
tions of Lord Dufferin, it would go a long way towards satisfying
the aspirations of the Indian people."

Mr. Schwann said that he, of course, had not had an opportu-
nity of looking at the provisions of the Bill, but he trusted it
contained the elective principle in a more decided form than the
measure of 1890. The members of the Indian National Congress
did not wish to dogmatise at all in proposing the exact method
in which the representation should be provided for. That was
left to the Viceroy and the Viceregal Council, but if the Bill was
to .at all answer the aspirations and wishes of the Indian people
it must decidedly contain the representative principle.

Mr. Curzon, Undersecretary of State for India, on behalf

of the Government, said that there was every desire to push the
Bill forward and carry it into law, adding that he would be out
of order were he to discuss the character and provisions of the
Bill. He would merely say if it did not in all respects satisfy the
expectations of hon. gentlemen opposite it would at any rate
meet the definition of being an attempt to deal honestly with the
question.
The second reading of the Bill was moved in the House of
Lords by Viscount Cross on February 15. In his speech he thus
alluded to the
" Northbrook clause" :

"
By a provision introduced by the noble Earl (Northbrook)
it enables the Viceroy, with the consent of the Secretary of State,
to make certain regulations as to the conditions under which the
nominations may be made, and which no doubt gives him
a considerable amount of latitude. I am most grateful to the
noble Earl (Kimberley) for the remarks that fell from him on
the opening night of the Session, and I entirely concur with
what he said. Although there has been some delay, one good at
any rate has come of it namely, that those who were anxious for
a more advanced measure, have thought the matter well over, and
are contented now to approach the subject more tentatively than
they were."
The Earl of Kimberley, in the course of a short speech,
said:
"I
only wish to make a remark on the subject of great
4 of the first clause of this
importance dealt with by sub-section
Bill, which enables
the Govenor-General in Council, with the
State in Council, to make regulations
approval of the Secretary of
as to the conditions under which nominations shall be made by
 [27]
the Governor-General, Governors, and Lieutenant-Governors
in which such regulations
respectively, and prescribe the manner
shall be carried into effect. It is important and I am bound to say
I, in company with my noble friend, would have preferred the
altered so as to make it
phraseology to have been slightly
different in ne respect. But at the same time, it is
slightly
a tentative measure, and, being a tentative measure, must be
taken as such. What we really, I think, all desire is that in this
matter the Government of India shall be able to exercise their
own discretion on the spot upon subjects which they are in a
better position to deal with. I think if the Governor-General of
India should find he is able to produce in some modified form
some system of election, if it should work well, the principle,
with the Secretary of State, can be extended if desired. Feeling
as I do the great caution that is required in extending this
Bill as it stands in any
principle to India, I cannot criticise the
hostile spirit ; and I think it may contain the foundation of a
very useful departure in India/'
He was followed by the Earl of Northbrook :

" I
agree that the clause to which the Earl has referred will
be useful in enabling the Viceroy to popularise in some way the
nominations to the Legislative Councils in India. I should have
preferred if my noble friend had used the term "representation"
instead of " election." It is impossible to express an opinion
with any degree of positiveness as to what system will be found
to work best in the present condition of India. I think one of
the great merits of the Bill is its elasticity. It is my fervent
desire myself that some legislation may be passed so that the
matter may not stand over again for another year."
The Marquis of Salisbury said :

" I rise for the

purpose of expressingmy general assent to
the language which has been used by the noble lord. I quite
u
agree with him that the word representation" better represents
the intention we have in view than the more narrow word
" election" I desire to correct the idea that this extra
representa-
tion in the Legislative Councils is to be necessarily confined or
even specifically confined to municipal bodies. I do not in the
least desire to narrow the the Bill in the
language or elasticity of
direction of discouraging such bodies ; but I must demur to the
idea that they must necessarily be the main bodies in India to
whom this additional representation must be given. 1 think we
all desire to popularise these bodies and to bring them into

harmony with the dominant sympathies of the people

But we must be careful lest we bring into power not the strong,
the vigorous, and the effective, elements of Indian society, but
the more artificial and weakly elements which we ourselves have
helped to form. It would be a great evil if the strong portion of
 [28 ]

which the majority in any system of government is composed can

under any circumstances be deprived of the share of the govern-
ment to which they were by their position entitled."
Having passed the House of Lords, the Bill came on for
second reading in the Commons on March 28. In his opening
speech, Mr. Curzon thus alluded to the elective principle :

" The hen. member for North Manchester has

(Mr. Schwann)
placed on the paper an amendment that no reform of these Councils
that does not embody the elective principle will be satisfactory.
In reply I should like to point out to him that our Bill does not
necessarily exclude some such principle as the method of selection,
election, or delegation. With the permission of the House I will read
the words of the sub-section of clause one. It runs as follows :

" The Governor-General in Council

may from time to time, on the
approval of the Secretary of State in Council, make regulations
as to the conditions under which such nominations, or any of
them, shall be made by the Governor- General, Governors, and
Lieu tenant-Governors respectively, and prescribe the manner in
which such regulations shall be carried into effect." Sir, I will
call the attention of the hon. member to that fact. Lord Kimber-
ley himself has elsewhere, in an earlier stage of this Bill, expressed
himself as follows ' I would say in the first place that the clause
:

of the Bill was introduced into the Bill as an amendment by Lord

Northbrook, and was received by the Secretary of State with the
avowed object of giving the Viceroy and the present Governor a
considerable latitude in that respect. Lord Kimberley has express-
ed himself about that clause. He said ' I am bound to say that
:

I express my whole satisfaction with regard to this elective prin-

ciple/ And upon another occasion in the present year he said
*
1 myself believe that under this clause it will be possible for the
Governor-General to make arrangements by which certain persons
may be present who have been chosen by election by the Governor-
General.' The opinions expressed by Lord Kemberley are thote
which are shared by the Secretary of State. Under this Act it
would be in the power of the Viceroy to invite representative
bodies in India to elect or select or delegate representatives of
those bodies or their opinions to be nominated to these Councils
and by elective measures. If inquiry be made as to what may be
the character of the bodies or associations to which I have alluded
I may mention only as an indication of what may be possible,
such associations as the association of Zemindars in Bengal, Cham-
bers of Commerce, the municipalities of great cities, the British
Indian Association, and perhaps more important than all, the
various great religious denominations in the country, I believe
the House will hold this method of dealing with the question a
wise one. It leaves the initiative to those who are best acquainted
with the matter. I cannot conceive anything more unfortunate
than that the House should draw up and send out to India a hard
 [29]
and fast electoral system within the four walls of which the Gov-
ernment of that country should confine its views to what some
future period should prove inadequate or unsuitable, and that it
should have to come back to this House to encounter all the
obstacles and delays incidental to Parliamentary vicissitude. . . .

The Government believe that the sub-section, of Clause 1, which

I read out to the House, will provide means by which representa-
tives of the most important sections of native society will be
appointed to the Councils, and will be able to expound their views
in a higher sense of responsibility than that which they have
hitherto felt."
Mr. Schwann then moved his amendment in a weighty speech,
which has been published separately. He was immediately
followed by Mr. Gladstone, who spoke with no uncertain sound,
and whose speech must be quoted in full.
ft
I commence with a phrase which is not unusual in this
House when hon. members say they do not intend to prolong
a debate by what they are saying. All I can say is that I should
wish if it were in my power to curtail this debate as far as any
controversial element in it is concerned. I do not speak of the
information and knowledge which we may have from members who
are competent to enter into Indian affairs, but as far as controversy
is concerned I
hope that this debate may on the present occasion
be compressed within narrow limits.
" We have before us the Government Bill now
proposed for
second reading, while my hon. friend the member for Manchester
has asked the House by his amendment to declare that in his
opinion no reform of the Indian Councils can be satisfactory which
does not embody the elective principle. Looking at the Bill and at
the amendment I have to ask myself whether there is between
them such a differnce of opinion and principle as to make me
desirous of going to an issue in respect of that difference.
Undoubtedly, looking at the Bill standing by itself I am disposed
to agree with my hon. friend that its language is insufficient and
unsatisfactory in so far as it is ambiguous. But as against that we
have the advantage of an authoritative statement. The Under
Secretary has introduced the Bill in a comprehensive and lucid
speech, and if I were to criticise any portion of that speech it
would be that portion of it in which the hon. gentleman addressed
himself to the amendment before the House because it appeared
to be his object to put upon the amendment the most hostile
construction it would bear. I however, for my part desire to put
upon the speeches I have heard and upon the Bill itself the least
controversial construction of which they are fairly susceptible.
While the language of the Sill cannot be said to embody the elective
principle, it is very peculiar language, unless it ia intended to
pave the way^or the adoption of that principle. I believe it was
suggested by a nobleman in the House of Lords who is friendly
 [30]
to the elective principle in India that, unless it had been intended
to leave room for some peculiarities not yet introduced into the
Indian system, in the appointment of the members of the Councils
under this Bill, it would have been a very singular form of speech
to provide not simply that the Governor-General might nominate,
but that he might make regulations as to the conditions under
which such nominations should be made, eitheir by himself or by
the Government in Council. It is plain, I think, we must assume
that those who have adopted the language have in their view
something beyond mere nomination. Then I come to the
speech of the Under Secretary, which distinctly embodies some-
thing which I confess appears to me to be not very different
from the assertions of my hon. friend, except in that important
point that the Under Secretary proposes to leave everything
to the discretion, judgment, and responsibility of the Governor-
General and the authorities in India. With that limitation I
think I may fairly say that the speech of the Under Secretary
appears to me to embody the elective principle in the only
sense in which we should expect it to be embodied. My
construction of the Under Secretary's speech (I do not think it will
admit of any other construction} is that it implies that, in the
of the Government and of the House of Lords, a serious effort
X'nion
uld be made to consider carefully those elements which in the
present condition of India might furnish material for the introduc-
tion into the Councils of the elective principle. If that serious effort
in which we are invited to concur is to be made, by whom is it to
be made ? I do not think that it can be made by the House of
Commons except through the medium of empowering provisions.
The hon. baronet, the member of Evesham, has spoken at some
period of a plan of that kind, and I observed with pleasure the
genuinely liberal views of the hon. baronet with respect to Indian
affairs and to the Government of the Indian people, and were the
hon. baronet to propose a plan of the kind he has indicated to the
House it would no doubt contain much that would be useful ai d
wise, and honourable to the spirit of such an assembly as the
House of Commons. It may, however, be doubted whether even
under such enlightened guidance it would be wise on our part,
with our imperfect knowledge, to proceed to the determination of
particulars of such a plan.
" I think that the best course to take would be to commend
the plan to the authorities in India with a clear indication of the
principle on which we desire they should proceed. It is not our
business to advise what machinery the Indian Government should
use. It is our business to give to those representing Her Majesty's
Government in India ample information as to what we believe to
be sound principles of government.
" It is also the
duty and the function of this House to comment
upon any case in which we think the authorities in India have failed
 [ 31 ]

to give due effect to those principles, but in the discharge of their

high administrative functions, or as to the choice of means, there
is no doubt that that should be left in their hands. It would be
unwise if we were, with our imperfect knowledge to do anything
to embarrass them in the discharge of the duties of an office so
highly responsible.
" It is evident that the great question and it is one of great
and profound interestbefore the House is that of the introduc-
tion of the elective element into the Government of India. That
question overshadows and absorbs everything else. It is a question
of vital importance, but it is at the same time one of great diffi-
culty. Do not let us conceal from ourselves that no more difficult
office has ever been entrusted to a Governor-General than that of

administering a Bill such as that which is now before the House in

a manner that shall be honourable and wise. I am not disposed to
ask of the Governor-General or of the Secretary of State that they
shall at once produce large and imposing results. What I wish is
that their first step shall be of a genuine nature, and that whatever
scope they give to the elective principle shall be real.
" There There is the
are, of course, dangers in their way.
danger of subserviency. There is another danger, and that is
the danger of having persons who represent cliques, classes, or
interests, and who may claim the honour of representing India.
The old story of the three tailors of Tooley Street does after all
embody an important political truth, and it does exhibit a real
danger. We must leave it to the wisdom of the Governors-
General to do their best to use the most efficient material. What
we want is to get at the real heart and mind, the most upright
sentiments and the most enlightened thoughts, of the people of
India ; but it is not an easy matter to do that. I think, however,
that npon this point we are justified in being a little more
sanguine than the Under Secretary has been in his speech as to
he amount of such material.
" I do
not, however, venture to indicate where the materials
for the elective element in India are to be found. Undoubtedly,
as for as my own prepossessions go, I should look presumptively
with the greatest amount of expectation and hope to the municipal
bodies of India and to the local authorities in which the elective
element is already included in that country. What I desire above
all is not that there shall be produced at the moment an imposing
and magnificent structure, but that there shall be the introduction
of that which in itself is in real sympathy with the hearts and
minds of the people of India. We cannot judge in what way
effect may best be given to the principle, but we must repose just
and lengthened confidence in those by whom the government of
India has to be administered. My hon. friend in moving the
amendment has pointed out authorities in favour of the elective
 [32]
principle, these including men who have been responsible for the
actual administration of India. These men, notwithstanding that
responsibility, have entirely exempted themselves from whatever
prejudicies administration may have entailed on them, and they
have distinctly and deliberately sanctioned the introduction of this
elective principle. we stand upon solid ground,
It is there that
and Her Majesty's Government ought to understand that it will
be regarded as a most grave disappointment if after all the
assurances we have received that an attempt wil be made to bring
into operation this powerful engine of government there should
not be some result such as we anticipate. I do not speak of its
amount I speak more of its quality. In an Asiatic country like
:

India, with its ancient civilisation, with its institutions so

peculiar,
with such a diversity of races, religions and pursuits, with such
an enormous extent of country and such a multitude of human
beings as probably, except in China, were never before under a
single Government, I can understand that there should be
difficulties in carrying what we desire to see accomplished ; but

great as the difficulties are the task is a noble task, and will require
the utmost prudence and care in conducting it to a successful con-
summation. But after the assurances we have had from persons of
the highest capacity and the greatest responsibity, I beleve we are
justified in looking forward not merely to a nominal but to a real living
representation of the people of India. The great nation to which we
belong has undoubtedly had to do most difficult tasks in the govern-
ment and in the foundation of the institutions of extraneous terri-
tories. But all the other parts of the British Empire have presented
to us a single problem in comparison with the great problem
presented to us by India. Its magnitude, its peculiarity, is such that
the task of Great Britain in this respect is far greater than that which
any other country has attempted, and far greater than that which
it has itself attempted beyond the sea in any of the dependencies
of the Empire. I rejoice to think that a great and real ad-
vance has been made both before, and especially since, the-
direct transfer of the Indian Government to the immediate super-
intendence of the executive at home and to the authority of the
Imperial legislature. The progress thus made has been effected
by the constant application to the Government of India of the
minds of able men acting under a strong sense of political res-
ponsibility. All these things induce us to look forward cheerfully
to a great future for India, and to expect that a real success will
attend the genuine application, even though it may be a limited
one, of the elective principles to the government of that vast and
almost immeasurable community. If this attempt be sucessful,
it will be the accomplishment of a task to which it would be
dfficult to find a paralled in history. Under these circumstances
I should deprecate a division of this House on the motion of my
hon, friend. I see no such difference between my hon. friend's,
language and the language of the Bill as ought to induce my hon.
 [33]
friend to divide the House. If the language of my hon. friend
is toreceive a perfectly legitimate and not a strained construction,
it is only an amplification and not a contradiction of what the

speech of the hon. gentleman the Under Secretary implies. I

think it would be a great misfortune if the House were to divide
on the subject. There is no difference of principle between us.
I think that the acceptance of the elective principle by the hon.
gentleman, though guarded was on the whole not otherwise than a
frank acceptance. I do not think there is on that side of the
House any jealousy of the introduction into India of that principle
which undoubtedly, if it did exist, would form a strong mark of
difference between the party which sists there and the party
who sit on this side of the House. In reality and in substance
we have the same objects in view, and are prepared to recommend
the employment of the same means. If that be so, it would be
unfortunate that any division should take place, even though the
numbers might be very unequal. I certainly could not take part
in any division hostile, apparently hostile, to the purposes of the
Bill. After the speech of the hon. gentleman such a division
would convey a wrong impression. It would be well that the
people of India should understand that united views on this
question substantially prevail in this House. My persuasion is
that those views are united, and that they are such as tend to the
development of an enlightened, and not only a liberal but a free
system of government. Our desire is that the feeling which has
led, as we hope, to the perfect development of free system of
government in this country shall be not less apparent in regard to
our Asiatic institutions. I venture to submit that the hon. gentle-
man has no substantial quarrel with the intentions of the
Government, and that we should do well to allow this Bill to
receive the unanimous assent of the House in the present Session,
in the hope that, without serious difficulty, it may shortly become
law, and fulfil the beneficent purposes with which it has been
framed aud submitted to Parliament. "
That there was no ambiguity in the mind of the House as to
the meaning of these declarations, was at once made apparent by
the remarks of the bitterest, perhaps the only bitter, opponent of
the Bill, Mr. Maclean. He said :

(C
I must say that when the Under Secretary was speaking,
and when he read an extract giving the views of Lord Kimberley
in the House of Lords, and when I asked him the question
whether the Government accepted those views as describing their
own intention in bringing forward the Bill, I was somewhat
surprised that he should give to that question an unconditional
assent.
" Mr. CurzonI did not say that Lord Kimberley accurately
:

expressed the views of the Government. On behalf of the Govern-

5
 [ 34 ]

ment I did not dissent from the interpretation put by Lord Kimberley
upon the possible application of a clause-.

"Mr. Maclean I think that amounts to the same thing. The

:

Government does not exclude the principle of election by this Bill.

It leaves it in the power of the Governor-General in Council with
the approval of the Secretary of State in Council to make regula-
tions under which men shall be chosen on appointment. I think
that it is a very dangerous power to be put into the hands of the
Secretary of State and the Governor-General for the time being.
With all respect to the right hon. gentleman the member for
Midlothian (Mr. Gladstone) I maintain that when Parliament is
making a great change of this sort it should know exactly what
it is
doing and that it should not allow the principle of election to
be brought in by a side wind I think it is absolutely
essential that if the principle of election is introduced at all it
should have the direct and immediate sanction of both Houses of
Parliament, because in that way we may be able to prevent the
application of this new system which may be extremely dangerous
to our rule out there."

The point was pressed home by Mr. MacNeill, who said :

" I think the Under

Secretary of State will not think me un-
fair if I ask from him a very deliberate statement. The right
hon. gentleman the member for Midlothian (Mr. Gladstone)
accepted to the full the statement of the Under Secretary in re-
ference to the admission of the representative principle. These
statements were made by the member for Midlothian in presence
of the Under Secretary for India, in presence of Lord Cross who
was here, and in presence of the leader of the House, and not one
of these gentlemen showed the very slightest expression of dissent
or disapproval. Then a thick and thin supporter of the Govern-
ment gets up and accuses the right hon. gentleman the member
for Midlothian of taking a tactical advantage of the Indian Govern-
ment stating that they accepted the principle of representation.
Do they accept the principle of representation or do they not ? That
would be a very interesting and important question, or is it as
the hon. member wishes to infer, that soft words are to be said to
the natives of India, and these soft words are to come to no
practical advantage ? I believe the Government have accepted
the representative principle and in that belief I shall accordingly
modify my speech."
Sir Richard Temple admitted the recognition of the principle
of election or selection so far as to propound a scheme of his own,
far more democratic in its way than anything hitherto proposed
by Indian reformers. His remarks both support our position and
are interesting in themselves; but will be more appropriately
considered in India in connection with schemes for carrying the
intentions of the Bill into practical effect.
 [ 35 ]

Mr. Curzon, in reply, thus alluded to Mr, Gladstone's

speech :

"I now come to the speech, if I may venture to say so, the
wise and weighty speech, with which the right hon. gentleman,
the member for Midlothian favoured this House. Undoubtedly,
the immediate effect of that speech was to eliminate the element
of controversy to a very great extent from our debate this evening,
and to diffuse a spirit of harmony over these proceedings. The
right hon. gentleman complained, at the outest of his speech, that
the language of this Bill was ambiguous, but as he proceeded I
was glad to find that the ambiguity was one from which he did
not himself draw conclusions hostile to the Bill or its friends.
Speaking for the Government, I entirely endorse that part of the
right hon. gentleman's speech in which he said it is not for us,
riot for this House to determine the plan or to devise a machinery,
but that the means and initiative must be left in the hands of the
Government of India. A subsequent speaker in this debate, the
hon. member for Elgin and Nairn (Mr. Seymour Keay) has asked
that a mandate should be given from this House. I prefer upon
this matter to side with the right hon. gentleman the member
for Midlothian. It is the object of the provisions which have
been introduced in this Bill and of that particular sub-section of
clause 1 which I read to the House, and which has been the
subject of so much discussion to-night to leave the initiative to
the Viceroy of India, subject to the assent of the Secretary of
State in Council. It will be for him to frame the conditions under
which these future nominations may take place. Hon. members
have more than once asked to-night whether the words of that
clause are to be taken as merely complimentary words. And
the hon. member for Elgin and Nairn said he was prepared to
stake his political reputation that this clause would be a dead
letter. I am sorry to say for the sake of the hon. gentleman that
his political reputation stands in very great peril. Undoubtedly
these words and this clause were designedly introduced by the
Government, and were introduced with a perfectly clear apprehen-
sion of their meaning. I do not think there is any want of clear-
ness in the terms in which I expressed the possible application of
this clause at an earlier period of the evening, I endeavoured to
give hon. members to understand that this clause was designed to
give perfect latitude to the Viceroy in this matter, and that it would
admit of the introduction of the principle of representation in India
whether the system was election or selection or delegation or what-
ever the precise method might be that recommended itself to the
judgment of the Viceroy. I think that it was a very important
contribution to this debate when the right hon. gentleman the
member for Midlothian, speaking with a full knowledge of the
enormous responsibilities of Indian government, laid down that
the question of the degree and the manner in which this
 [36]
principle is to be carried out, were matters not for the
consideration of this House, but primarily for the considera-
tion of the Government of India (a hon. member, " No, No")
I do not think I have misrepresented what the right hon.
gentleman said and that it would be in the highest degree
unwise if this House were to endeavour to exercise pressure upon
a matter the initiative upon which must necessarily be left to
those who are better informed than ourselves. I will not further
detain the House, I need only say in conclusion that I entirely
accept the statement of the right hon. gentleman as to the objects
with which this Bill is introduced. They are undoubtedly to
enlist in the service of India what I may describe as the upright
sentiment and enlightened opinion of the various sections of
native opinion in that great dependency, and if, as the proceedings
of this evening appear to show, this Bill will pass without diffi-

culty and with sufficient rapidity into law in the present Session
of Parliament, I entertain a certain conviction that it will be
attended with very good results."
These admissions and pledges were pressed home in the
debate in Committee, when an attempt was made to introduce
words distinctly affirming the principle of election. Mr. Schwann
said :

" We
are told, sir, that the elective principle is already con-
tained in the Bill ; but even with the aid of a powerful micros-
cope I have found it impossible to discover it within the four
corners of the Bill. I believe it is supposed to be contained in
clause 4, sub-section 1 Everybody can understand that it
will be possible by some arrangement under this sub-section to
allow a certain number of men to be elected by large cities or by
various bodies to serve on the legislative councils, and that the
men thus elected could be nominated by the Viceroy, but it is
quite evident that no distinct pledge to this House or to the country
is contained in these words, which indeed are considered feeble
and impotent by Indian reformers I am glad to know that
whatever may be the fate of my amendment, some assurances
have already been given in this House and in another place'
(

which I hope and believe will eventually lead to a large extension

of the elective principle. We all know that the hon. gentleman
who has charge of the Bill in this House has given repeated assur-
ances as to the intentions of the Government to introduce the
elective principle at any rate not to exclude it. Lord Salisbury
in another place gave a general assent to the interpretation which
was put by Lord Kimberley on some remarks of Lord Cross who
gave considerable latitude to the clause which I have already
quoted I am glad to think that Lord Salisbury in the
remarks which I quoted has made some slight advance from the
position taken up by him on a former occasion with regard to
1
Indian reforms. I hope that the ' Black-Man controversy is
 [37]
closed, and that the noble lord will never again be tempted to
use words which, like those, hurt the feelings of a great body of
our fellow-subjects in India. I believe he once stated that the
idea of election was entirely foreign to the Indian mind and to
Indian institutions, and I am glad to know that since then in
another place he has taken a broader view of our responsibilities
towards India. We have heard some of the assurances given by
members of the present Government, and I am glad to think
that the right hon. gentleman the member for Midlothian has
given us his views upon the elective principle. I will not occupy
the time of the House by reading many extracts, but there are a
few sentences I should like to quote from -his speech on the
second reading These extracts are important as pledging
the action of the future Government of the right hon. member for
Midlothian."
Mr. Curzon, in reply, did not withdraw from his former
" The
standpoint. He repeated :
object of the Government and
of the Bill, as I explained in the debate on the second reading, in
so far as the elective principle is capable of being received or
introduced into the Bill, is to leave the manner, date, and the
mode of its introduction absolutely to the Viceroy. We are
unable to interfere with his discretion in the matter, and that this
is the intention of the Government, and also that it is a wise

intention, was recognised by the right hon. gentleman the member

for Midlothian himself."

Mr. Bryce, speaking with all the weight of his position in the
Liberal Party was equally explicit.
"
Therefore, it is certainly desirable to give an independent
position, a stronger basis, for an expression of opinion by those
members of the Councils. That, I think, can only be done by having
elective members elected in some form or other. Not only so but it
is extremely desirable that the people of India should understand
that these members are elected. It is not only desirable that some
members should be elected, but it is also desirable that when they
agree with the view the Government takes it should be understood
that the agreement is not arrived at because they are nominated
members, but as the result of their independent view. The
Committee will easily see that the value of an independent opinion
is very much diminished if the
people do not suppose that thay are
the genuine opinions of those who express them, but simply the
expression of the views of those who are nominated, and who
may desire renominat-ion. I do not intend to dwell upon that at
length, but I think that the point will be obvious to those who
consider what the conditions of India are. For that reason, and
for others which it would be tedious to enlarge upon, I think
there ought to be some recognition of the elective principle. I
believe a great many members of this House, by no means con-
 [38]
fined to one side of it, desire to see the elective principle largely
introduced, and who feel a very strong, and I will say a very
confident, hope that under this Bill it will be introduced. We
know that the opinions of several very eminent and recent Viceroys
are in accordance with that view, and we have, I hope, no reason
for thinking that the opinion of the present Viceroy is at variance
with theirs. That being so, I for one should be very glad if we
had an opportunity of asserting that principle I
think it was the upshot of the last debate that it would be much
better that all matters of detail should be settled by the Indian
authorities than that they should be settled in this House. We
have every reason to believe that the Indian authorities desire to
settle them in a liberal spirit. They really possess knowledge
we do not possess, and I confess I should be sorry to see passed
any amendments which would tie the hands of the Indian Govern-
ment, and which would force their hands to do that which we
believe they have already a desire to do in a generous way. Hon.
members will recollect that when the motion was before the House
for the second reading a very important declaration was made by
the Under Secretary, who, repeating what had been said in another
place, very definitely stated that it would be competent for the
Governor-General, if so advised, to introduce the elective principle:
that is to say, there is nothing in the words of the Bill to prevent
the Governor-General from doing it. That declaration, which
has been practically repeated to-night, was noted at the time by
my hon. friend the member for Midlothian, who dwelt upon it,
and who said that it left the matter in a very satisfactory way.
With that explanation I ask my hon. friend the member for
Manchester to withdraw his amendment. Although a division
it would not
upon prejudice the elective principle, still the effect
of it might be to give the impression that this House is not favour-
able to the principle. I fear, therefore, that the effect of taking
the division would leave us in a less advantageous position than
we were left in on the second reading. That being so, I cannot
help thinking that it would be the best thing to leave the matter
in that position, especially after the declaration which the G-overn-
ment have made, that that which has been already adumbrated
will be cordially carried out by the Government of India."

Sir Richard Temple had no doubt in the matter. "The Bill

leaves the matter in a safe position. It paves the way for the
introduction of the elective principle, and leaves the responsibility
of carrying out the principle with the authorities on the spot."

Subsequently, Mr. Curzon, in declining to add words

explicitly affirming the principle of election, distinctly admitted
that the Bill was to be read in connection with the debate. He
said, "I think the intentions of the Government are clearly
defined in the Bill, and have been also clearly stated in the course
 [39 ]

of these debates. Nobody can be in doubt as to our intentions,

?md therefore I cannot assent to the proposal to add any further
word* "

anything were wanted to confirm this body of evidence, it

If
would be found in the whining of Mr. Maclean. In terror lostr
the Viceroy should interpret too liberally the mandate of Parlia-
ment, he desired to ensure the laying before Parliament (i,e.,
before a Tory House of Lords) of any scheme prepared by the
Indian authorities. In moving an amendment to effect this he
said :

"
However, it is now proposed and strongly advocated on the
other side of the House that, ia order to give expression to public
opinion, we should have an elective system of Government in
India, and in the present section of the Bill, as finally explained
by the Under Secretary, there is no doubt that the elective
principle is to be introduced hereafter into the Administration of
India. The hon. member has distinctly stated that to be the
meaning and intention of the Government. (" No, No/') Well,
it is not expressed but it is allowed My hon. friend, I
think, does not see the full force of the concession he has made to
the other side. My own belief is that if we once introduce the
elective principle into India, we shall do away with the logical
position of our rule in that country. We must be masters there
or else we must leave India altogether. If we once admit that
the people of that country are entitled, and have the right to the
same privileges of self-government that we possess ourselves, then
we have no business in India at all. Now, it is that strong con-
viction which compels me to regret very much that the Govern-
ment should have so far yielded to pressure as to have made that
very important concession. I do not understand that it was
originally the intention of the Government to do anything of the
kind, but Lord Kimberley asked in the House of Lords whether a
certain interpretation could not be put on the words of this section,
and Lord Cross, with that sprightly amiability which never fails
him, said: "Oh, happy thought! Let us adopt the elective
principle and introduce it into our Bill." Well, we have the
principle, and it is provided that every Secretary of State may
make such regulations as he pleases as to the way in which these
additional members of the Council should be nominated It
is to be left absolutely in the power of the Governor- General in

Council, with the approval of the Secretary of State, to make as

many changes in the constitution of that country as he may desire.
I do not say that danger will always arise from the exercise of that
authority ; but to use a Johnsonian phrase, the clause contains
potentiality of mischief beyond the dreams of the present genera-
tion of agitators. It is obvious that if you have a Governor "(General
who is anxious to conciliate the people of India, that he will yield
 [40 ]

one condition after another. You are yielding to pressure now and
are offering thereby an invitation to the people to whom you yield
to bring fresh pressure to obtain more that they desire. The
Under Secretary, in speakiug of this clause, tried to make out
really I was attaching exaggerated importance to it. He said it
was a very small matter indeed. Well, it is a small matter, no
doubt, to some people, if you make a slight breach in the dam of
a reservoir by taking away a stone or two, but by such proceeding
you may in time desolate the whole of the country below. I think
it is a dangerous thing for the Government to have so yielded the

scope of the Bill, and to have given room for the introduction of a
great scheme of elective representation in India."

But this Drophet of evil met with no honour in his own party.
Mr. Curzon once more asserted the intentions of the House :

" But the main

ground on which I would ask the House not
to accept the amendment is not because of any inherent difficulty,
but because of the general grounds on which I have been advocat-
ing this Bill and the general principles we have in view. We
have persistently taken the line of saying, ' Let us give a broad
indication to the Governor-General of the lines on which he may
proceed but we do not desire to hamper him in the smallest
;

degree by any suggestions, much less commands for this is

almost a mandatory amendment as to what he is to do/ I
might in support of that line quote again the speech made a few
weeks ago on the second reading by the right hon. gentleman
the member 'for Midlothian (Mr. Gladstone). We desire, as I
have had occasion to say over and over again, to leave ample
judgment and discretion to the Council; and if we adopt the hon.
member's advice if we introduce in the clause specific reference
to the village council why it alone ? why not to the other bodies
and the other institutions ? why not to the local boards ? why
not to the municipalities that have been called into existence
in India, and which are representatives of a larger area than
the village council ? why not to the universities ? and why
not to the branches of the universities ? I might cover a
wide field suggesting a number of electoral units which we might
indicate in this way to the Governor-General of India. I venture
to think that the House will adopt a wiser attitude, will refrain
from entering on these particulars, and treat the Government of
India in a generous way on those principles of which we have
given sufficient indication."

It is not proposed to mar the effect of these weighty pronounce-

ments by any laboured argument. No argument indeed is
needed, where the language is so clear and unmistakeable. The
object of the Committee is solely to put into the hands of the
Indian public a brief composed of irrefragable evidence, on the
 [41 ]

strength of which they can approach the Government in whose

hands the decision has been left, with a claim, to use the words
of Mr. Gladstone, "for a real living representation of the people."
The evidence is clear on two points. First, the Government of
India has the power to prepare a scheme of representation more
democratic than any the most advanced reformer has dared to
suggest. Second, it is expected and believed by Parliament that
the Government of India desires that its scheme shall be framed
in a liberal spirit. Again to use the probing words of Mr.
Gladstone, the all-important matter is not of quantity, but of
quality. The numbers are, indeed, fewer than we think advisable,
but they are fixed probably for some years to come ; the strength
of the reformers must, therefore, in the immediate future be
concentrated on this one object, the endeavour to procure the
assent of Government to a scheme which will make the repre-
sentative element real and living.
 ROLES UNDER THE INDIAN
COUNCILS ACT (1892.)

AT the meeting of the Viceregal Legislative Council held 011

the 2nd February 1893, His Excellency the PRESIDENT said :

" Before we
proceed to the business on the paper I should
like tomake a statement to the Council upon another matter.
" Hon'ble Members will recollect
that, during the last session
of the Imperial Parliament, a Bill was passed affecting in several
respects the Council which I have the honour of addressing, and
the local Legislative Councils of Bombay, Madras, Beugal, and the
North-West Provinces. The circumstances under which the measure
was introduced, and the discussion which took place while it was
passing through the two Houses of Parliament, are well known,
and I do not think it necessary to recur to them now.
" The
changes introduced by the new Act had reference to the
constitution of the Legislative Councils, and to their functions.
As regards their constitution, the Act provided for an increase in
the number of Additional Members, and conferred upon the Gover-
nor-General in Council the power of making regulations as to the
conditions under which such Member*, should be nominated. As
regards the functions of the enlarged Councils the Act gave them
the right of discussing the annual Financial Statement, and also
the right of addressing questions to the Government.
<(
With the object of introducing these changes, it was enacted,
under clause I of the new Act, that the Governor-General in
f

Council may from time to time, with the approval of the Secretary
of State in Council, make regulations as to the conditions under
which such nominations/ (i.e., the nominations of Additional
Members) 'or any of them, shall be made by the Governor-
General, Governors, and Lieutenant-Governors, respectively, and
prescribe the manner in which such regulations shall be carried
into effect/
" The
provision affecting the functions of the enlarged Councils
isclause 2, of the Act, under which 'the Governor-General in
Council may from time to time make rules authorising, at any meet-
ing of the Governor-General's Council for the purpose of making
Laws and Regulations, the discussion of the annual Financial
Statement of the Governor-General in Council and the asking of
questions, but under such conditions and restrictions as to subject
or otherwise as shall be in the said rules
prescribed or declared/
 [43]
" The clause contains a like
provision authorising the heads
of the Local Governments to make similar rules, and it is provided
that rules made under the Act by Governors in Council and
'
Lieutenant-Governors shall be submitted for, and shall be subject
to, the sanction of the Governor-General in Council/ while the
rules made by the Govenor-General in Council are to be submitted
'

for, and shall be subject to, the sanction of the Secretary of State
in Council.'
"
Acting upon the lines thus laid down for our guidance in
the two clauses which I have quoted, we at once entered into
correspondence with the Local Governments with a view to
framing regulations under clause I for the nomination of
Additional Members. We also prepared rules with regard to the
discussion of the Financial Statement and the asking of questions
in this Council, and we entered into correspondence with the
Local Governments as to the rules which were to be made for
similar purposes in the case of their Legislatures.
" The
question was one of some difficulty, and necessitated a
considerable amount of correspondence. We did not think it
necessary to insist upon absolute uniformity as between province
and province in the matter of the new rules, but it was obviously
desirable that they should be framed in a uniform spirit, and in
accordance with what we believed to be the general principles
accepted by Parliament when the Act was passed.
" We were able to arrive at an
understanding with the Local
Governments before the end of the Simla season, and by the end
of October last our proposals had been submitted to the Secretary
of State.

my earnest hope that we should have obtained the

was
ct
It
sanction of Her Majesty's Government by a date which would
have enabled us to bring the whole of the new rules into opera-
tion at the commencement of the present session, but it is scarcely
matter for surprise that the Secretary of State should have thought
itnecessary to examine carefully proposals so far-reaching and so
important as those which we have submitted to him, and we learnt
a few days ago that, in consequence of a legal difficulty which had
been encountered in reference to the new regulations for the
appointment of Additional Members, it was not likely that we
should, for some lifctle time to come, be made aware of His Lord-
ship's views upon the whole question.
"Under these circumstances we considered it desirable to
apply to Her Majesty's Government for permission to introduce
immediately that part of the new procedure which has reference
to those enlargements of the functions of the Legislative
Councils,
of which I spoke just now. I am glad to say that this
suggestion
was readily agreed to by Lord Kimberley, and that we have
 [ 44 ]

received his sanction to introduce at once the new rules under

which, in future, Hon'ble Members will have the right of discussing
our financial proposals, and of addressing questions to us on matters
of public interest. The new rules will be published in the official
Gazette, but it may be desirable that I should take this opportunity
of stating briefly what their substance will be, and of mentioning
one or two considerations by which we have been guided in
framing them.
" The rules for the discussion of the Financial Statement are
of the briefest and simplest character. They merely lay down
that
(i) the Statement shall be explained in Council every year
and a printed copy given to each Member that
;

(ii) after the explanation has been made, each Member shall
be at liberty to offer any observations he may wish to
make on the Statement and that:

(Hi) the Financial Member shall have the right

of reply, and
the discussion shall be closed by the President making
such observations, if any, as he may consider necessary.
" The rules for the discussion of the Financial Statement in
the Local Legislatures are framed upon the same lines, and I need
not further refer to them.
" The
privilege thus conferred upon the Legislative Councils
is, I venture to think, one
of great importance. I have, more than
once, expressed in this room my strong opinion that the present
practice, under which the Council
has been allowed an opportunity
of criticising the financial policy of the Government of India only
upon those occasions when financial legislation was resorted to,
could not be defended. The right to criticise the financial admi-
nistration of a Government is one of which it is impossible to over-
estimate the value, and I have never concealed my opinion that it
was improper as well as illogical that that right should be
that no Bill
frequently denied merely upon the technical ground
upon which a financial debate could be originated happened to be
before the Council. The right to discuss, and to criticise, is one
which should be either altogether withheld, or altogether conceded.
The present arrangement, under which it has been exercised one
year and held in abeyance the next, is altogether indefensible.
These financial discussions will now take place with regularity, and
not upon sufferance, and I feel no doubt that both the public and
the Government of India will gain, the one by the wider knowledge
and insight into public affairs which it will obtain, the other by
the increased opportunity which will be given to it of explaining
its position, and defending its policy.
" I will now
pass to that portion of the new regulations which
has reference to the asking of questions under section 2 of the
Councils Act of last year. The main point which we found
ourselves called upon to consider had reference to the conditions
and restrictions under which the newly-conferred right should be
exercised. We propose that at least six days' notice shall ordi-
narily be given in writing to the Secretary in tbe Legislative
Department of any questions which an Hon'ble Member intends
to ask ; but that the President may, if he thinks fit, allow a
question to be asked with shorter notice, or may require a longer
notice should the circumstances demand it,
" We have laid down that questions must be so framed as to
be merely requests for information, and must not be put in an
argumentative or hypothetical form, or in defamatory language.
No discussion will be permitted in respect of an answer given to a
question. These two restrictions are substantially identical with
those under which questions may be put to Her Majesty's Govern-
ment in the British House of Commons. A question, of which
notice has been given by one Member, may, if he so desires, be
asked by another Member on his behalf.
" There remains one
point of the utmost importance. We
had to consider whether it was desirable to specify certain subjects
with regard to which questions should be inadmissible. It is
obvious that there are some matters with regard to which no
Government can allow itself to be publicly interpellated, such
matters, for example, as military preparations at a time when
hostilities are in progress or in contemplation, or matters of
financial policy involving the premature disclosure of information
affecting the market. The conclusion to which we came was that
it was better, at all events in the early days of the new procedure,
not to commit ourselves to any such specification of subjects. The
impropriety of a question may be due quite as much to the time
and circumstances under which it is asked as to the subject-matter,
and, although we believe that experience may possibly enable us to
lay down rules of the kind suggested, we are of opinion that, for
the present, it will be desirable to content ourselves with taking
power for the President to disallow a question upon the ground
that it cannot be answered consistently with public interests. The
reformed Councils will, I have no doubt, show a proper appreciation
of the limits within which the right of interpellation can be
exercised without injury to public interests, and I have every hope
that it will very rarely be found necessary to resort to the veto of
the President. I may add that in this case also the rule adopted
is similar to that in force in the House of Commons.

" The rules as to questions asked in the Local Legislatures

are conceived in the same spirit, but they contain two special and
important restrictions. Under the first of these, Members of
Council are precluded from asking questions with regard to matters
or branches of the administration other thau those under the
 [46 ]

control of the Local Government. The second restriction is this,

that in matters which are, or have been, the subject of controversy
between the Governor-General in Council, or the Secretary of
State, and the Local Government, no question shall be asked
except as to matters of fact, while the answer must be confined to
a statement of the facts. The necessity of both these restrictions
is, I think, so obvious that I need not take up the time of the
Council by defending them.
" These nre the
changes which will come into immediate
operation. Of those which are likely to follow, and which affect
the constitution, as distinguished from the functions of the
Councils, I am obviously precluded from speaking while the matter
is still in the hands of the Secretary of State. I will, however,
venture to say that, even if the changes which we have been able
to introduce were to stop short with those which I have now
explained, and I do not suggest for a moment that this is
likely, a very material advance will have been made in the
direction of increasing the usefulness of the Legislative Councils.
Their functions have, until now, with the solitary exception to be
found in those occasional discussions of the Budget which I have
just mentioned, been strictly and narrowly limited to those of
assisting the Government of India in the work of legislation.
They have been absolutely precluded from asking for infor-
mation, or inquiring into matters of public interest. In advising
Her Majesty's Government to allow us to exceed these limits we
feel that we have taken a very serious and far-reaching step.
We have taken it under a deep sense of the responsibility which
we have assumed ; we are fully aware that we are effecting a
radical change in the character of these Legislatures; but we
are profoundly convinced that the time has come when it is
desirable to bring them into closer touch with the rest of the com-
munity, and that the reform which we are about to introduce is
one which will be for the advantage of the Government as
well as of the people of this country.
"I
ought, perhaps, to add that the new rules will be published
in the Gazettes immediately."
 CONSTITUTION OF LEGISLATIVE
COUNCILS.
AT the meeting of the Viceregal Council held on the 16th
March 1893, His Excellency the PRESIDENT said :

"
When, upon a recent occasion, I made a statement to tlie
Council with regard to the procedure to be adopted under the
Indian Councils Act of last year, in so fnr as that procedure had
to do with the right of interpellation and of financial discussion, I
said that it was out of my power, for the moment, to make any
announcement as to the regulations affecting the nomination of
Additional Members.
"I am glad to inform the Council that the difficulty which I
then mentioned as having prevented the Secretary of State from
giving his consent to our proposals, and which I shall presently
explain, has been satisfactorily surmounted, and I am now able
to tell the Council how the matter stands, both in regard to the
Local Councils and in regard to that which I have now the honour
of addressing.
" It
is, I think, important that we should have a clear idea at
the outset of the extent to which these questions have been taken
out of our discretion by the terms of the Act, and how far we are
free to deal with them by means of the Rules which I am about
to lay upon the table.

"In the first place, the maximum number of Additional

Members has been, in all cases, fixed by the Act. In Madras arid
Bombay the present strength is represented by a minimum of 5
and a maximum of 9, including the Advocate-General. Under the
Act, there is to be a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 21. The
condition laid down in the Act of 1861, that one-half of the
Additional Members must be non-officials, still remains in force.
" In the
Bengal Legislative Council the present maximum
number of Councillors is 12, and this figure is raised by the new
Act to 20, subject to the old condition that one-third of the Addi-
tional Members must be non -officials.
" In the North-Western Provinces the
present strength of
Additional Members is 9, and the maximum under the Act is 15, of
whom, as in the case of Bengal, one-third must be non-officials.
" These maximum numbers were fixed after much consultation
with Her Majesty's Government and with the Local Governments
concerned. It i&, I think, clear that no one can take upon himself
to lay down confidently that, in the case of legislative bodies like
 [48 ]

these, any one particular number is exactly appropriate.

Our
communications with the Local Governments, to which I have just
referred, disclosed a certain amount of variety of opinion, although
the divergence was within comparatively narrow limits. I may,
however, say that when the question was first taken up and
Hon'ble Members will recollect that this Bill has been before
Parliament for at least three sessions we found a complete
consensus of opinion on the part of all the Local Governments
consulted in favour of the view that the Councils might, with
advantage, be enlarged, and that it was desirable to increase their
authority, and to give them a constitution under which they would
be able to afford to the Provincial Governments a larger measure
of assistance and support.
" There was another
point upon which the consensus of
opinion of the Local Governments was equally noticeable. It was
felt by all of them that what was desirable was to improve the

present Councils rather than to attempt to put in their place bodies

comprising a large number of persons, and possessing-the attributes
of Parliamentary assemblies of the European type. It is a little
remarkable that, although the measure was, as I said just now,
during three successive sessions before Parliament, no serious
attempt was, to the best of my belief, made to substitute largely
increased numbers for those which are mentioned in the present
Act and in the Bills introduced in preceding sessions.
" Another
provision of the Act which requires to be specially
considered, in addition to those which have reference to the
numbers of the Additional Members, is the provision which has
reference to the manner in which they are to be nominated. It is
laid down in section I (4) that the " Governor-General in Council
may from time to time, with the approval of the Secretary of
State in Council, make regulations as to the conditions under
which such nominations, or any of them, shall be made by the
Governor-General, Governors and Lieutenant-Governors respec-
tively, and prescribe the manner in which such regulations shall
be carried into effect.'
" It is under this section the
regulations to which I am about
to refer have been made.
(<
Now, it will not escape the attention of the Council that,
under the words which I have quoted, the responsibility for these
nominations remains with the Governor-General and the heads
of the Local Governments concerned, and the Secretary of State,
in forwarding the Act to us officially, was careful to point out that
(
the ultimate nominating authority still rests with those to whom it
was entrusted by the Statute of 1861, and that the responsibility
attaching to the careful exercise of this authority by no means
diminishes as the number of non-official Members increases, and as
the scope of their attributes is enlarged,'
 [49 ]

"It was, however, clearly understood, throughout the discussion

of the measure, that subject to this ultimate responsibility, the
authority upon whom the duty of making the nomination was thus
cast should be encouraged to avail himself, as far as the circum-
stances permitted, of the advice and assistance of any public bodies
whose character and position rendered it likely that they could be
consulted with advantage. I will read to the Council the words in
which was dealt with by the Secretary of
this part of the subject
State. Writing on the 30th June 1892, he says.
" It
appears to me probable, nevertheless, that the diffusion in
the more advanced provinces of education and enlightened pub-
lic spirit, and the recent organization of local self-government, may
have provided, in some instances, ways and means of which the
Governments may appropriately avail themselves in determining
the character that shall be given to the representation of the views
of different races, classes and localities. Where Corporations have
been established with definite powers upon a recognised adminis-
trative basis, or where Associations have been formed upon a sub-
stantial community of legitimate interests, professional, commercial
or territorial, Your Excellency and the Local Governors may find
convenience, or advantage, in consulting, from time to time, such
bodies, and in entertaining at your discretion an expression of
their views and recommendations with regard to the selection of
Members in whose qualifications they may be disposed to confide.
" There can be no
doubt, I think, that the language thus
used by the Secretary of State reflected the general feeling on
both sides of the British Parliament. It would be easy to multiply
quotations, but I will content myself with referring to the import-
ant statement made during the course of the debate on the second
reading by Mr. Gladstone, who, the Council will remember, was
then leader of the Opposition.
:f
He pointed out that the only reasonable interpretation
which could be put upon the clause giving the Governor-General
power, not only to nominate Additional Members, but to make
regulations as to the conditions under which they were to be nomi-
nated, was an interpretation which assumed that something was
meant ' beyond mere nomination.' '
The speech of the Under
'
Secretary/ he said, appeared to him to embody the elective prin-
ciple in the only sense in which we should expect it to be embo-
died. My construction of the Under Secretary's speech is that it
implies that a serious effort should be made to consider carefully
those elements which, in the present condition of India, might
furnish material for the introduction into to the Councils of the
elective principle/ Towards the commencement of his speech
Mr. Gladstone had pointed out that the proposals of Her Majesty's
Government were apparently intended ' to leave everything to the
discretion, judgment and responsibility of the Governor-General
 [
50 ]

and the authorities in India/ and, after dwelling upon the diffi-
culty and responsibility of the task, he added I am not disposed
'
:

to ask of the Governor-General or of the Secretary of State that

they shall at once produce large and imposing results. What I
wish is that their first steps shall be of genuine nature, and that
whatever scope they give to the elective principle shall be real.'
" I should like at this
stage to dwell upon the fact that the
Government of India, ever since I have the honour of being con-
nected with it, while it has insisted upon the ultimate responsibility
of the Government for these nominations, has constantly urged
that any Bill which might be passed should render it possible for
the Governor-General, and for the heads of the Local Governments,
to have recourse to the advice of what, for the want of any more
convenient expression, I will describe as ' suitable constituencies.'
" I will venture to
quote to the Council an extract from a
Despatch sent home by us long ago as the 24th December, 1889,
in which we placed on record our opinion that it would be ' well
that the measure about to be laid before Parliament should not
absolutely preclude us from resorting to some form of election where
the local conditions are such as to justify a belief that it might be
safely and advantageously adopted.'
" We went on to
say that we should have been glad if the
'

Bill had reserved to us authority to make rules from time to time

"
for the appointment of Additional Members by nomination or
otherwise," and we should have considered it sufficient if the
consent of your Lordship in Council had been made a condition
precedent to the validity of such rules. Such an enactment would
have provided for the gradual and tentative introduction of a
carefully guarded mode of electing Additional Members.'
" I am to have had the of to what
glad opportunity referring
we said upon this occasion, because I have seen it not unfrequently
stated that the Government of India had strenuously opposed the
introduction of anything approaching to the elective principle
into the Bill, and that we had accepted it reluctantly and under
pressure.
"
These, then, are the conditions under which we are called
upon to frame regulations for the appointment of Additional
Members. I think the first observation which it would occur to
any one to make would be that, given legislative bodies of the
dimensions prescribed for us, or of any dimensions approaching
to those laid down in the Act, it would be altogether hopeless to
attempt the introduction of a representative system in the sense
in which the words are understood in Western communities.
How, for instance, would it be possible in a province like that of
Bengal, with a population of 70 millions, to allot the handful of
seats at our disposal so as to divide the country, either in respect
 [ 51 ]

of geographical areas, or in respect of the different communities

which inhabit it, in such a manner as to distribute the representa-
tion equitably, or to make it really effectual ? And I am bound to
admit that, to the best of belief, even those who are credited
my
with opinions of the most advanced type upon Indian political
questions have carefully guarded themselves against being supposed
to claim for the people of India any system of representation
closely imitating the Parliamentary systems of Western Europe.
" We are met, moreover, with this difficulty that, in many
parts of India, any system of election is entirely foreign to tha
feelings and habits of the people, and that, were we to have
recourse to such a system, the really representative men would
probably not come forward under it.

"
Upon a careful review of the whole matter, and of the con-
tents of the Act, as well as of the circumstances under which it
had been introduced and passed into law, it appeared to us that
the mandate under which we were called upon to act might be
summarised in the four following propositions :

(1) It is not expected of us that we shall attempt to create

in India a complete or symmetrical system of repre-
sentation.

(2) It is expected of us that we shall make a bond fide

endeavour to render the Legislative Councils more
representative of the different sections of the Indian
community than they are at present.
(3) For this purpose we are at liberty to make use of the
machinery of election whatever there is a fair pros-
pect that it will produce satisfactory results.

(4) Although we may to this extent apply the elective princi-

understood that the ultimate
ple, it is to be clearly
selection of all Additional Members rests with the
Government, and not with the electors. The function
of the latter will be that of recommendation only,
but of recommendation entitled to the greatest
weight, and not likely to be disregarded except in
cases of the clearest necessity.
" It is in this
light that the questioa has been considered and
discussed by us with the local Government. We
do not believe
that the seats placed at our disposal can be distributed according
to strict numerical proportion or upon a symmetrical and uniform
system. We do not believe, to use Mr. Gladstone's words, that,
under the Act, f large and imposing results' are to be at once
obtained, but we do believe that, by having resort to sources other
than the unassisted nomination of the Government we shall be
 [ 52 ]

able to obtain for these Councils the services of Members who will
be in the truest sense representative, but who will represent types
and classes rather than areas and numbers.
" We believe
that it should not be beyond our power to secure
in this manner
for the Government the advice and assistance of
men connected with different parts of the country, thoroughly
aware of the interests and wishes of their countrymen, and able
to judge of the extent to which those interests are likely to be
affected by any measure of legislation which may be proposed.
If we can obtain men of this description, not by
selecting them
ourselves, but by allowing the great se-ctions of the community
a voice in the matter, we believe that the persons selected will
bring to our deliberations a very much greater weight of autho-
ritythan they would have possessed had we been content to rely
upon nomination alone.
" It would be
impossible for me, within the limits of such a
statement as I desire to make this morning, to explain in detail
the rules as they will affect each of the four Local Governments
concerned. I may say, however, that in each case we have pro-
vided by our Rules for the appointment of a number of non-official
Additional Members in excess of the minimum determined by the
Act, and also that we propose to use at once to the utmost the
power of increasing the number of Additional Members in Bengal
and the North- Western Provinces, by proclaiming the full maxi-
mum allowed under the Act. And I may here explain, in order to
avoid misapprehension, what was the nature of the difficulty to
which I referred just now, and also upon a former occasion, as
having prevented the Secretary of State from at once giving his
consent to our scheme as it stood. It was thus we had proposed
:

that officials should be ineligible for ' election/ or, to use the
strictly correct term, for
'
recommendation.' A
doubt, I believe,
arose as to the legality of this exclusion. The legal point was
eventually decided in favour of the rule as we had framed it, but,
on a full consideration of the case, the Secretary of State in
Council came to the conclusion that it was not proper that the
whole official class should be subjected to such a disability, and
the omission of the rule was consequently proposed by His Lord-
ship and agreed to by us.
" It
may, perhaps, interest my hearers if, as an illustration
of the manner in which the new Rules will operate, J mention the
leading features in the Bengal scheme.
" We have out of the 20 Councillors who
provided that, may
be nominated under the Act, not more than 10 shall be officials.
Under the Act at least one-third of the Additional [Members must
be non-officials. This would give the Bengal Council 7 unofficial
Members. Under the Rules there will be 1 0, and of these 7 will
 >e nominated by the Lieutenant-Governor on the recommendation
of the following bodies and Associations :

A. The Corporation of Calcutta;

B. Such Municipal Corporations, or group or groups of
Municipal Corporations, other than the Corporation of
Calcutta, as the Lieutenant-Governor may from time
to time prescribe by notification in the Calcutta
Gazette ;

C. Such District Boards, or group or groups of District

Boards, as the Lieutenant-G-overnor may from time to
time prescribe as aforesaid ;
D. Such Association or Associations of merchants, manu-
facturers or tradesmen as the Lieutenant-Governor may
from time to time prescribe as aforesaid ;
E. The Senate of the University of Calcutta.
" We
have provided that each of the above groups shall
(except as hereinafter provided in Rule VII) have at least one
Councillor nominated upon its recommendation, but that the Cor-
poration, the Mercantile Associations and the Senate shall have
not more than one each.
" It
however, further provided that the Lieutenant-Gover-
is,
nor may nominate to such of the remaining seats as shall not be
filled by officials, in such manner as shall, in his opinion, secure a
fair representation of the different classes of the community, and
that one seat shall ordinarily be held by a representative of the
great landholders of the province. It was in our belief absolutely
necessary that apart of the seats at our disposal should be reserv-
ed in this manner, and filled up by nomination pure and simple.
Only by such a reservation was it possible to provide for the re-
presentation of those sections of the community which, although
sufficiently important to claim a voice in our deliberations, happen
to be in a minority, and therefore unable to secure by means of
their votes the return of a Member acceptable to themselves.
Members thus nominated, although not owing their nomination
to the suffrages of their fellow-citizens, will, we hope, be regarded
as distinctly representative of the class from which they are taken.
" down that it shall be a condition in the case
It is also laid of
any person recommended by a Municipal Corporation, or group of
Municipal Corporations, that he shall be a person ordinarily resi-
dent within the Municipality of the district in which it is situated,
or in some one of the Municipalities constituting the group, or of
the districts in which they are situated. A similar condition is
laid down with reference to persons recommended by District
Boards.
 t 54 ]

"There are other provisions relating to matters of detail, but

I do not think it necessary to trouble the Council with them, as
the Rules will be published forthwith.
" The Rules for Madras and
Bombay, and for the North-
Western Provinces and Oudh, differ in some particulars, but are
conceived in the same spirit. These also will be published with-
out loss of time.
" It remains for me to r

say a few words with regard to the

manner in which it is proposed to deal with the Council which I
have the honour of addressing.
" The Government of India
has, from the first, held that the
reform of the Viceroy's Council must, to some extent, be depen-
dent upon, and subsequent to, that of the local Councils. It
seemed to us that, if the difficulty of obtaining an effectual system
of representation was great in the case of the local Councils, it
must, a fortiori, be greater still in the case of a Council entrusted
with the duty of legislating for the whole of India, and, in our
belief, the strongest argument in favour of dealing, in the first
instance, with the local Legislatures was that we were likely to
find in them* when they had been strengthened and reformed, the
most convenient electoral bodies for the purpose of choosing a
part at all events of the Additional Members who will be appoint-
ed to the Legislative Council of the Viceroy.
" This view found much
acceptance in Parliament. In his
speech in the House of Lords on March 6th, 1890, Lord North-
brook said ' For the present he would not be disposed to go
further in respect of the Supreme Council except, perhaps, to
allow a selection by each of the subordinate local Legislatures/
" In the same debate Lord f
Ripon remarked That he was
glad to concur with his noble friend who had just spoken' (Lord
'
Northbrook) in the expression of a desire to see the elective or
representative element introduced into those Councils. If that
step were taken, it would be desirable to introduce the same
element into the Council of the Governor-General, very likely in
the manner suggested, by selection from the local Councils.'
" We have made a
proposal of this kind to the Secretary of
State. The maximum number of Additional Members who can be
nominated to the Governor-General's Council is 16. Of these at
least 8 must, under the Act, be non-officials. We have recom-
mended that there shall be 10 non-officials. We have suggested
that 4 of these might be selected and recommended to us by the
local Legislatures of the four Provinces having local Councils, that
one at least would be required to represent the interests of com-
merce, and that one might perhaps be chosen from the Calcutta
Bar. We propose that the discretion of the Viceroy with regard
to the sources from which the remaining 4 might be obtained
 [55]
should be interfered with as little as possible. There may be
found in those provinces which do not possess Legislative
Councils certain classes and sections of the community so far accus-
tomed to collective action in the promotion of their common inte-
rests that they would be qualified to unite in submitting a recom-
mendation in respect of any seat which the Governor-General may
desire to fill up from a particular province, and we have been in
communication with the Governments of these provinces upon this
subject. It is, however, clear that whatever, arrangement
may be
made with this object should be as elastic as possible. We might
for example, find from time to time that the consideration of some
particular measure requires the presence in this Council of a Mem-
ber specially conversant with the subject, or with the territories
which the contemplated legislation will affect, and this contingency
must certainly be provided for in the case of those provinces
which have no local Legislatures, and for which such legislation
as is required must be undertaken in the Council of the Governor-
General. We do not, therefore, in the case of these provinces see
any necessity for such detailed rules for the submission of recom-
mendations as have been proposed for the local Councils. We
shall, however, endeavour as far as possible, in the event of a
Member being required for this Council from any of the four pro-
vinces not having local Councils, to give that Member, by resort-
ing as far as possible to the system of recommendation, a more
representative character than would attach to him if he were arbi-
trarily selected by the head of the Government.

" This the scheme which, in so far as this Council is con-

is

cerned, we have submitted to the Secretary of State in terms

closely corresponding to those of which I have now made use.
We shall at once embody our proposals in a set of rules which
will be forwarded for the final sanction of Her Majesty's Govern-
ment. I have every hope that rules will have been agreed to and
will be in operation before the next Calcutta session.

" I have now

explained, as far as is necessary, the procedure
which will be followed in giving effect to both portions of the
Indian Councils Act. It is not unlikely that our proposals will
disappoint the expectations of those who would gladly see us
travel further and faster along the path of reform. We claim,
however, for the changes which we have been instrumental in
procuring that they will, beyond all question, greatly increase the
usefulness and the authority of these legislative bodies. We are
able to show that the number of Additional Members has been
materially increased ; that we have considerably widened the
functions of the Councils by the admission of the right of inter-
pellation and the discussion of the Financial Statement ; and,
finally, that we shall no longer rely on nomination, pure and
simple, for the selection of Additional Members. These are all
 [ 56 ]

substantial step& in advance. I hope the Government of India

will have the assistance of all concerned in carrying out the Rules
in such a way as to secure in the most effectual manner the objects
with which they have been framed. It is highly probable that
experience will suggest improvements in matters of detail, and I
need not say that, in so far as we are not bound by the limits
indicated in the Act, we shall be glad to consider the Rules as to
some extent experimental and tentative, and that we shall wel-
come any suggestions which may be offered to us for the purpose
of making them work as satisfactorily as possible."
 RULES REGARDING THE RECONSTITUTION
OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCILS
OP INDIA.

HOME DEPARTMENT.
PROCLAMATIONS.
PUBLIC.

CALCUTTA, the Wtk March, 1893.

No. 354. 7 Whereas, by proclamation issued on the 17th
January, 1862, under the provisions of the Act 24 and 25 Viet.,
Cap. 67 (the Indian Councils Act,, 1861), the Governor-General of
India in Council extended the provisions of the said Act to the
Bengal Division of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal, and
further directed in conformity with the provisions of the said Act
that the number of Councillors whom the Lieutenant-Governor of
the said Division of the Presidency of Fort William might nomi-
nate for his assistance in making Laws and Regulations should be
twelve ;

And whereas, by section I Sub-Section (2), of the Act 55 and

56 Viet., Cap. 14 (the Indian Councils Act, 1892), it was provided
that it should be lawful for the Governor-General in Council by
proclamation from time to time to increase the number of Coun-
cillors whom the said Lieutenant-Governor may nominate for his
assistance inmaking Laws and Regulations, provided that not
more than 20 should be so nominated ;

It is hereby declared by the said Governor-General in Council

that from and after the date of this proclamation, the number of
Councillors whom the said Lieutenant-Governor may nominate for
the said purpose shall be 20.

No. 355. Whereas by proclamation issued on the 26th Nov-

ember, 1886, under the provisions of the Act 24 and 25 Viet., Cap
67 (the Indian Councils Act, 1861,) the territories for the time
being under the administration of the Lieutenant-Governor of the
1

North-Western Provinces and Chief Commissioner of Oudh were

constituted, for the purposes of the said Act, a Province to which the
provisions of that Act touching the making of Laws and Regula-
lations should be applicable, and the said Lieutenant-Governor and
Chief Commissioner was appointed to be the Lieutenant-Governor
of the Province so constituted ;

8
 [ 58 ]

Andwhereas, by the same proclamation, the Governor-Gene-

ral directed in conformity with the provisions of the
in Council
said Act that the number of Councillors whom the said Lieute-
nant-Governor might nominate for his assistance in making Laws
and Regulations should be nine ;
And whereas by Section 1, Sub-Section (2), of the Act 55 and
56 Viet., Cap 14 (the Indian Councils Act, 1892), it was provided
that it should be lawful for the Govern or- General in Council by
proclamation from time to time to increase the number of Council-
lors whom the said Lieutenant-Governor may nominate for his
assistance in making Laws and Regulations, provided that not
more than fifteen should be so nominated.
It is hereby declared by the said Governor-General in Council
that from and after the date of this proclamation the number of
Councillors whom the said Lieutenant-Governor may nominate for
the said purpose shall be fifteen.

NOTIFICATIONS.
PUBLIC.
The 17th March, 1893.
No 359. The following Regulations, which have been made
by the Governor-General in Council under the provisions of Sec-
tion 1, Sub-Section (4) of the Indian Councils Act 1892, as to the
conditions under which nominations of Additional Members of
Council shall be made by the Governors of Madras and Bombay
and nominations of Councillors by the Lieutenant-Governor of the
Bengal Division of the Presidency of Fort William and of the
North-Western Provinces and Oudh, respectively, for their assist-
ance in making Laws and Regulations, have received the appro-
val of the Secretary of State for India in Council and are now
published for general information :

Regulations under Section 1 (4) of the Indian

Councils Act, 1893, for Madras,
I. Of the persons, other than the Advocate-General or officer
acting in that capacity, to be nominated Additional Members of
Council by the Governor of Madras for his assistance in making
Laws and Regulations not more than nine shall be officials.
II. The nominations to seven seats shall be made by the
Governor on the recommendation of the following bodies and
Associations respectively, namely,
A. The Corporation of Madras.
B. Such Municipal Corporations or group or groups of
Municipal Corporations other than the Corporation of Madras as
the Governor in Council may from time to time prescribe by
Notification in the Fort St, George Gazette ;
 [59]
C. Such District Boards, or group or groups of District
Boards, as the Governor in Council may from time to time prescribe
as aforesaid ;
D. Such Association or Associations of merchants, manufac-
turers or tradesmen as the Governor in Council may from time to
time prescribe as aforesaid ;
E. The Senate of the University of Madras :

Provided that the bodies described above under A, B, C,

D, and E, respectively, shall each (except as hereinafter provided
in Rule VII) have at least one person nominated upon its recom-
mendation, and A, D, and E, not more than one each.
III. The Governor may, at his discretion, nominate persons
to such of the remaining seats as shall not be filled by officials in
such manner as shall in his opinion secure a fair representation of
the different classes of the community ; provided that one seat shall
ordinarily be held by a Zemindar paying not less than Rs. 20,000
as peshkash annually to Government.

IV. When a vacancy occurs and is to be filled under Rule

II of these Regulations, the Governor shall cause the proper body
or group of bodies or Association or Associations to be requested
to recommend a person for nomination by the Governor.

V. The recommendation shall be made

(a) in the case of a Municipal Corporation or of a District
Board, or of the Senate of the University, by a majority of votes
of the Corporation, Board, or Senate, respectively ;

(6) in the case of Associations not established by law, in the

manner laid down
in their rules or articles of association for carry-
ing Resolutions or recording decisions upon questions of business
brought before the Association ;

(c) in the case of a group of Municipal Corporations, District

Boards, or Association, by the majority of votes of representatives
to be appointed, according to such scale as the Governor in
Council may from time to time prescribe, by the Corporations,
Boards or Associations.
VI. It shall be a condition in the case of any person to be
recommended by a Municipal Corporation or group of Municipal
Corporations that he shall be a person ordinarily resident within
the Municipality or the District in which it is situated, or in some
one of the Municipalities constituting the group or of the Districts
in which they are situated. A
similar condition shall also apply
to persons to be recommended by District Boards.
VII. If within two months after receiving the request of the
Governor as provided by Rule IV the body or Association or
group of bodies or Associations fails to make a recommendation,
 [ 60 ]

the Governor may nominate at his discretion a person belonging

to the class which the body or Association or group is deemed to
represent.
VIII. Governor shall decline to nominate any person
If the
who has been, under these Regulations, recommended for nomina-
tion, a fresh request shall be issued as provided in Rule IV, and
the procedure laid down in Rules V and VII shall apply.

IX. As soon as conveniently may be after these Regula-

(a)
tions come
into force, seven of the seats held by non-official
persons shall be filled up by recommendation under Rule II.
(6) If there shall not be the full number of seven vacancies
available at once for this purpose, the Governor shall determine at
his discretion, subject always to the proviso in Rule II, which of
the bodies or groups mentioned in that Rule shall be requested to
recommend the persons to fill up such vacancies as may then be
available ; and so whenever and as often as any further vacancies
among non-official members become available, until the full
number of seven has been completed.

Regulations under Section 1 (4) of the Indian

Councils Act, 1892, for Bombay.
I. Of the persons, other than the Advocate-General or
officer actingin that capacity, to be nominated additional Mem-
bers of Council by the Governor of Bombay for his assistance in
making Laws and Regulations not more than nine shall be
officials.

II. The nominations to eight seats shall be made by the

Governor on the recommendation of the following bodies and
Associations respectively, namely,
A. The Corporation of Bombay ;
B. Such Municipal Corporations or group or groups of
Municipal Corporations other than the Corporation of the City of
Bombay as the Governor in Council may from time to time pre-
scribe by Notification in the Bombay Government Gazette ;

C. Such District Local Boards, or group or groups of

District Local Boards as the Governor in Council may, from time
to time, prescribe as aforesaid ;

D. The Sirdars of the Deccan or such other class of large

land-holders as the Governor in Council may, from time to time,
prescribe as aforesaid ;
E. Such Association or Associations of merchants, manufac-
turers or tradesmen as the Governor in Council may, from time to
time, prescribe as aforesaid ;
F. The Senate of the University of Bombay :
 [
61 ]

Provided that the bodies described above under A, B, C, D, E,

and F, respectively, shall each (except as hereinafter provided in
Rule VII) have at least one person nominated upon its recommen-
dation, and A and F not more than one each.
III. The Governor may, at his discretion, nominate persons
to such of the remaining seats as shall not be filled by officials in
such manner as shall in his opinion secure a fair representation of
the different classes of the community.

IV. 'When a vacancy occurs and is to be filled under Rule

II of these Regulations, the Governor shall cause the proper body
or group of bodies or Association or Associations to be requested
to recommend a person for nomination by the Governor.

V. The recommendation shall be made

(a) in the case of a Municipal Corporation or of a District
Local Board, or of the Sardars of the Deccan, or such other class
of large land-holders as the Governor in Council may, from time
to time, prescribe, or of the Senate of the University, by a
majority of votes of the Corporation, Board, Body or Senate, res-
pectively ;
(b) in the case of Associations not established by law, in the
manner laid down in their rules or articles of association for carry-
ing Resolutions, or recording decisions upon questions of business
brought before the Association ;
in the case of a group of Municipal Corporations, Dis-
(c)
trictLocal Boards, or Associations, by the majority of votes of re-
presentatives to be appointed, according to such scale as the
Governor in Council may, from time to time, prescribe, by the
Corporations, Boards, or Associations.
VI. It shall be a condition in the case of any person to be
recommended by a Municipal Corporation or group of Municipal
Corporations that he shall be a person ordinarily resident within
the Municipality or the District in which it is situated or in some
one of the Municipalities constituting the group or of the Districts
in which they are situated. A similar condition shall also apply to
persons to be recommended by District Local Boards.
VII. If within two months after receiving the request of the
Governor as provided by Rule IV, the body or Association or
group of bodies or Associations fails to make a recommendation,
the Governor may nominate at his discretion a person belonging
to the class which the body or Association or group is deemed to
represent.
VIII.If the Governor shall decline to nominate any person
who has been, under these Regulations, recommended for nomina-
tion, a fresh request shall be issued as provided in Rule IV, and
the procedure laid down in Rules V
and VII shall apply.
 [ 62 ]

IX. (a) As soon as conveniently may be, after these Regula-

tions come into force, eight of the seats held by non-official
persons shall be filled up by recommendation under Rule II.
(6) If there shall not be the full number of eight vacancies
available for this purpose, the Governor shall determine at his
discretion, subject always to the proviso in Rule II, which of the
bodies or groups mentioned in that Rule shall be requested to
recommend the persons to fill up such vacancies as may then be
available ; and so whenever and as often as any other vacancies
among non-official Members become available, until the full num-
ber of eight has been completed.

Regulations under Section 1 (4) of the Indian

Councils Act, 1892, for Bengal.
I. The Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal has been authorised
by the Proclamation of the Governor-General in Council in the
Home Department, No. 354, dated ]6th March, 1893, to nominate
twenty Councillors for his assistance in making Laws and Regu-
lations. Of these twenty Councillors not more than ten shall be
officials.

II. The nominations to seven seats shall be made by the

Lieutenant-Governor on the recommendation of the following
bodies and Association respectively, namely :

A. The Corporation of Calcutta :

B. Such Municipal Corporations or group or groups of

Municipal Corporations other than the Corporation of Calcutta as
the Lieutenant-Governor may, from time to time, prescribe by
Notification in the Calcutta Gazette ;

C. Such District Boards, or group or groups of District

Boards, as the Lieutenant-Governor may, from time to time pre-
scribe as aforesaid ;

D. Such Association or Associations of merchants, manufac-

turers or tradesmen as the Lieutenant-Governor may, from time to
time, prescribe as aforesaid ;

B, The Senate of the University of Calcutta :

Provided that the bodies described above under A, B, C, D,

and E, respectively, shall each (except as hereinafter provided in
Rule VII) have at least one Councillor nominated upon its recom-
mendation, and A. D. and E. not more than one each.
III. The Lieutenant-Governor may at his discretion nomi-
nate persons to such of the remaining seats as shall not be filled
by officials in such manner as shall in his opinion secure a fair re-
presentation of the different classes of the community ; provided
that one seat shall ordinarily be held by a representative of the
great landholders of the Province.
 [
63 ]

IV. When a vacancy occurs and is to be filled under Rule

II of these Regulations, the Lieutenant-G-overnor shall cause the
proper body or group of bodies or Association or Associations to
be requested to recommend a person for nomination by the
Lieutenant-Governor.
V. The recommendation shall be made
(a) in the case of a Municipal Corporation or of a District
Board, or of the Senate of the University, by a majority of votes
of the Corporation, Board, or Senate, respectively ;
the case of Associations not established by law, in the
(b) in
manner down in their rules or articles of association for carry-
laid
ing Resolutions or recording decisions upon questions of business
brought before the Association ;
(c) in the case of a group of Municipal Corporations, District
Boards, or Associations, by the majority of votes of representa-
tives to be appointed, according to such scale as the Lieutenant-
Governor may from time to time prescribe, by the Corporations,
Boards, or Associations.
VI. It shall be a condition in the case of any person to be
recommended by a Municipal Corporation or group of Municipal
Corporations that he shall be a person ordinarily resident within
the Municipality or the District in which it is situated, or in some
one of the Municipalities constituting the group or of the Districts
in which they are situated. A similar condition shall also apply
to persons to be recommended by District Boards.
VII. If within two months after receiving the request of the
Lieutenant-Go vernor as provided by Rule IV the body or Associa-
tion or group of bodies or Associations fails to make a recom-
mendation, the Lieutenant-Governor may nominate at his discre-
tion a person belonging to the class which the body or Association
or group is deemed to represent.
VIII. If the Lieutenant-Governor shall decline to nominate
any person who has been, under these Regulations, recommended
for nomination, a fresh request shall be issued as
provided in Rule
IV, and the procedure laid down in Rules V
and VII shall apply.
IX. (a) As soon as conveniently may be after these Regula-
tions come into force, seven of the seats held by non-official
persons shall be filled up by recommendation under Rule II.

If there shall not be the full number of seven vacancies

(b)
available at once for this purpose, the Lieutenant-Governor shall
determine at his discretion subject always to the proviso in Rule
II, which of the bodies of groups mentioned in that Rule shall be
requested to recommend the persons to fill up such vacancies as
may then be available ; and so whenever and as often as any
further vacancies among non-official Councillors become available,
until the full number of seven has been
completed.
 [
64 ]

Regulations under Section 1 (4) of the Indian

Councils Act, 1898, for the North-
western Provinces and Oudh. l

The Lieutenant-Govern or of the North -Western Provinces

I.
and Oudh has been authorised by the Proclamation of the Gover-
nor-General in Council in the Home Department, No. 355, dated
16th March, 1893, to nominate fifteen Councillors for his assist-
ance in ma.king Laws and Regulations Of these fifteen Coun-
cillors not more than seven shall be officials.

II. The nominations to six seats shall be made by the

Lieutenant-Governor on the recommendation of the following
bodies and Associations respectively; namely,
A. Such Municipal Boards or Committees or group or groups
of Municipal Boards or Committees as the Lieutenant-Governor,
may, from time to time, prescribe by Notification in the Govern-
ment Gazette for the North-Western Provinces and Oudh ;
B, Such District Boards, or group or groups of District
Boards, or Association or Associations of landholders (whether
landlords or tenants) as the Lieutenant-Governor may, from to
time, prescribe as aforesaid ;

C. Such Associations or Association of merchants, manufac-

turers or tradesmen as the Lieutenant-Governor may, from time to
time, prescribe as aforesaid ;
D. The Senate of the University of Allahabad Provided that
:

the bodies described above under A, B, C, and D, respectively,

shall each (except as hereinafter provided in Rule VII) have at
least one Councillor nominated upon its recommendation, and C
and D not more than one each.
III. The Lieutenant-Governor may at his discretion nomi-
nate persons to such of the remaining seats as shall not be filled
by officials in such manner as shall in his opinion secure a fair
representation of the different classes of the community.
IV. When
a vacancy occurs and is to be filled under Rule
II of these Regulations, the Lieutenant.Governor shall cause the
proper body or group of bodies or Association or Associations to
be requested to recommend a person for nomination by the Lieute-
nant-Governor.
V. The recommendation shall be made
(a) in the case of a Municipal Board or Committee or of a
District Board, or of the Senate of the University, by a majority
of votes of the Board, Committee or Senate, respectively ;

(6) in the ease of Associations not established by law, in the

manner laid down in their rules or articles of association for car-
rying Resolutions or recording decisions upon questions of business
brought before the Associations ;
 [65 ]

(c) in the
case of a group of Municipal Boards or Committees,
District Boards, or Associations, by the majority of votes of repre-
sentatives to be appointed, according to such scale as the Lieute-
nant-Governor may, from time to time, prescribe, by the Boarda,
Committees of Associations.
VI. be a condition in the case of any person to be
It shall
recommended by a Municipal Board or Committee or group of
Municipal Boards or Committees that he shall be a person ordi-
narily resident within the Municipality or the District in which
it is situated, or in some one of the Municipalities constituting the

group or of the Districts in which they are situated. A similar

condition shall also apply to persons to be recommended by Dis-
trict Boards.
VII. If within two months after receiving the request of the
Lieutenant-Governor, as provided by Rule IV the body or Associ-
ation or group of bodies or Associations fails to make a recommen-
dation, the Lieutenant-Governor may nominate at his discretion a
person belonging to the class which the body or association or
group is deemed to represent.

VIII. If the Lieutenant-Governor shall decline to nominate

any person who has been, under these Regulations, recommended
for nomination, a fresh request shall be issued as provided in
Rmle IV, and the procedure laid down in Rules V and VII shall
apply.
IX. (a) As soon as conveniently may be after these Regula-
tions come into force, six of the seats held by non-official persons
shall be filled up by recommendation under Rule II.

(5) If there shall not be the full number of six vacancies

available at once for this purpose, the Lieutenant-Governor shall
determine at his discretion, subject always to the proviso in Rule
II, which of the bodies or groups mentioned in that Rule shall be
requested to recommend the persons to fill up such vacancies as
may then be available ; and so whenever and as often as any
further vacancies among non-official Councillors become available,
until the full number of six has been completed.
NOMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES TO SEATS IN
THE COUNCIL OP THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR
FOR MAKING LAWS AND REGULATIONS
ON THE RECOMMENDATION OF
PUBLIC BODIES AND
ASSOCIATIONS.

RESOLUTION, JUDICIAL.

Dated Calcutta, the 26th March, 1893.

Under Rule II of the Regulations which have been framed
by the Governor-General in Council with the sanction of the
Secretary of State under Section I (4) of the Indian Councils
Act, 1892, for Bengal, it has been laid down that the nomination
to seven seats Council of the Lieutenant-Governor for
in the
making Laws and Regulations shall be made by the Lieutenant-
Governor on the recommendation of the following bodies and
associations respectively, wz, -

A. The Corporation of Calcutta;

B. Such Municipal Corporations or group or groups
of Municipal
Corporations other than the Corporation of Calcutta as the
Lieutenant-Governor may, from time to time, prescribe by
Notification in the Calcutta Gazette ;

C. Such District Boards, or group or groups of District Boards,

as the Lieutenant-Governor may, from time to time, prescribe
as aforesaid ;

D. Such Association or Associations of merchants, manufacturers

of tradesmen as the Lieutenant-Governor may from time to time
prescribe as aforesaid ;

E. The Senate of the University of Calcutta :

Provided that the bodies described above under A, B, C, D,

and E, respectively, shall each (except as hereinafter provided in
Rule VII) have at least one Councillor nominated upon its recom-
mendation, and A, D, E, not more than one each.
With reference to the above proviso, it has been decided that
District Municipalities and District Boards shall each be ordi-
narily represented by two members.
2. Under Rule V (c) of the same Regulations, it has been
laid down that the recommendation of a person for nomination by
the Lieutenant-Governor shall be made " in the case of a group of
Municipal Corporations, District Boards, or Associations by the
majority of votes of representatives to be appointed according
to
such scale as the Lieutentnt-Governor may, from time to time,
prescribe by the Corporations, Boards, or Associations.
3. The Corporation of Calcutta and the Senate of the
University of Calcutta will now be asked by a separate communi-
cation to recommend a person for nomination by the Lieutenant-
Governor. The votes of the Commissioners of the Corporation of
Calcutta will be given at a meeting of the Commissioners. Those
of the Fellows of the Senate will be given by voting papers to be
delivered personally to the Registrar, or forwarded by post under
certain conditions. The Bengal Chamber of Commerce are
already represented on the Council by the Vice-President of their
body, the Hon'ble Mr. Playfair, and no steps can be taken under
clause D of the Rule II above quoted until he resigns his appoint-
ment or the term of his office expires.
4. The following observations exclusively refer to the arrange-
ments which will now be made regarding the nomination to the
four seats which will be made by the Lieutenant-Governor on the
recommendation of District Boards and of Mofussil Municipalities.

5. The Lieutenant-Governor has decided that both district

Boards and Municipalities shall be grouped together separately
division by division and that the District Boards and Municipa-
lities within each divisional area shall take it in turns to exercise
the privilege which is now bestowed on them of recommending
a person for nomination to the Council. It is proposed that this
privilege should be exercised by the groups of Municipalities and
District Boards in each Division according to rotation. The fol-
lowing is a sketch of the form which the rotation may probably
assume but the Lieutenant-Governor cannot bind himself or his
:

successor as to the exact order in which the privilege will in future

be exercised:

Date of Municipalities. District Boards.

election.
1893 Presidency Division Patna Division.
Rajshahye Division Chittagong Division.
1895 Burdwan Division Decca Division.
Orissa Division ")

Chota Nagpore Division Bhaugulpore Division.

J
1897 Patna Division Presidency Division.
Chittagong Division Rajshahye Division.
1899 Decca Division Burdwan Division.
Bhaugulpore Division Orissa Division.
1901 Presidency Division Patna Division.
Rajshahye Division Chittagong Division.
and so on.
 [63]
The necessary notification will now be published in the Cal-
cutta Gazette specifying the groups of District Boards and Munici-
palities in the Divisions
from which a recommendation will be
made to the Lieutenant-Governor for the nomination to four seats
in Council in 1893.

6. The Lieutenant-Governor is pleased to prescribe the

following procedure under which each District Board and Munici-
pality concerned shall, for the purpose of making its recommenda-
tion, proceed to elect from amongst its own members an electoral
representative who shall be entrusted with full powers to vote for
a member to represent the group in Council.

7. In respect of Municipal Corporations, it has been deter-

mined that only those Municipalities which enjoy a clear income
from Municipal resources proper of Rs. 5,000 and over shall
exercise the right of electing an electoral representative. The
voting power of each of these representatives will be calculated by
the income of the Municipalities concerned according to the follow-
ing scale :

Votes.
Municipalities with an income of Rs. 5,000
and less than Rs. 10,000 will be entitled to ... 1

Municipalities with an income of ,, 10,000

and lessthan Rs. 20,000
Municipalities with an income of 20,000
and lessthan Rs. 50,000 to
Municipalities with an income of 50,000
and lessthan Rs. 1,00,000 to ... 4
Municipalities with an income of 1,00,000
and less than Rs. 1,50,000 to ... 5

Municipalities with an income of 1,50,000

and lessthan Rs. 2,00,000 to ... 6

Municipalities with an income of 2,00,000

and less than Rs. 2,50,000 to ... 7

Municipalities with an income of 2,50,000

and over to
Each Municipality will elect one electoral representative only,
and this representative shall be entitled to exercise all the votes of
the Municipality which he represents.

8. All Districts are considered by the Government to be of

approximately equal importance, and each District Board will
appoint one representative having one vote.
9. According to the scales above laid down, the following
Municipal Corporations and District Boards will now proceed to
elect their electoral representatives as follows :
 Municipalities in the Presidency Division.
Number of
Ordinary votes to be
Municipal exercised
Income.* by each re-
District. Names of Municipality. presen-

'Cossipur-Chitpur
Maniktollah
Baranagar
South Suburbs
Rajpur
Joynagar
24-Prgns-{ South Dum-Dum
South Barrackpur
North Barrackpur
Barasat
Naihati
Basirhat

Santipur
Ranaghat
Kushtea
JKrishnagur
Jessore ...Jessore
Khulna ...Khulna
fBerhampur
Murshi- J Lalbagh
dabad j Jangipur
^Kandi
22
 [ 70 ]

Municipalities in the Rajshahye Division.

- votes
Ordinary
to b exercised b J
District. Name of Municipality. Municipal
eadl re P resenta ~
Income *
tive.
ES.

f Darjiling
J 94,949 4
Darjilmg ......
( Kurseon| 8 ; 105 1

f Kampur Boalia 1 9.054 2

Rajshahi
22.434 3
Dmajpur p ....... 15 ; 252
Pabna ...Sarajgunge ... ... 15,627 2
Bogra ...Bogra ......... 13 026 2
Rungpur ...Rungpur ...... 22,770
Julpaiguri ...Julpaiguri ... ... 12,318 2

10 23

10. Under Rule IV of the Regulations quoted, the Lieute-

nant-Governor now desires that intimation may be at once com-
municated by the Commissioners of the Divisions concerned to the
Chairman of all the Municipalities and District Boards enumerated
in the above lists, requesting them to arrange without delay for
the convention of a special meeting of each District Board and
Municipality concerned at which one of their members may be
elected to represent them for the purpose of recommending the
nomination of a member in the Lieutenant-Governor's Council.
The name of the electorial representative elected in each must be
reported at once by the Chairman of the local body concerned for
the information of the Commissioner of the Division.

11. The period of two months which is contemplated under

Rule VII of the Regulations as the period within which a recom-
mendation shall be made to the Lieutenant-Governor is hereby
declared to run from the date on which the Commissioner of the
Division issues his invitation to the Chairman of any Municipality
or District Board within the group concerned to elect one of their
members to represent them for the purpose of recommending the
nomination of a member in the Lieutenant-Governor's Council.

12. As soon as the electoral representatives are elected by

the local bodies concerned, they will be called upon by the Com-
missioner of the Division to meet together on an early and con-

* The
Ordinary Municipal Income is found from Statement II attached to the
Resolution on the working of Municipalities in 1891-92, by deducting from head
column II the figures shown in head columns 8, 9 and 10, i. e., the Special grants,
Miscellaneous and Debt heads.
 [ 71 ]

venient date with special reference to the limit of time imposed

under Rule VII of the Regulations, and at such convenient place
as he may specify, for the purpose of electing by a majority of
votes a person whom they will recommend to the Lieu ten ant-
Governor be nominated as a member of the Council. The
to
names of all candidates put forward at such meeting shall be
duly proposed by one of the electorial representatives present.
The election shall be by ballot, and the person elected must obtain
a majority of the votes of the representatives present. If on occa-
sion of the first ballot an absolute majority is not obtained the
candidate who obtains the least number of votes shall be with-
drawn from the election and another ballot shall then be held for
the remaining candidates, and so on until an absolute majority is
obtained. The electoral representatives present at this meeting
shall elect among themselves a Chairman who shall preside and be
responsible for the fair and proper exercise of the ballot vote.

as the election is made, the Chairman of the meeting

As soon
shall,without delay, report to the Commissioner of the Division
the name of the person so elected with the number of votes
obtained and any other information which it may appear desirable
to communicate, and on behalf of the meeting shall recommend to
the Lieutenant-Governor to nominate for Council the person so
elected. The Commissioner shall submit the report from the
Chairman of the meeting, with &ny observations he may wish to
add, to the Chief Secretary to Government, by whom the recom-
mendations will be submitted to the Lieutenant-Governor.

13. Attention is drawn to the following Rule VI of the

Regulations which have been framed by the Governor-General in
Council and Secretary of State :

VI. It shall be a condition in the case of any person to be

recommended by a Municipal Corporation or group of Municipal
Corporations that he shall be a person ordinarily resident within
the Municipality or the District in which it is situated, or in some
one of the Municipalities constituting the group or of the Districts
in which they are situated. A
similar condition shall also apply to
persons to be recommended by District Boards.

Under this rule it is not necessary that persons recommended

shall be members of any Municipality or District Beard concerned,
but they must be ordinarily resident within the division from
which the recommendation is made. Subject to this condition
the rules declare no limit of qualifications and it is left to the
electoral representatives to recommend a person under Rule V
(c) according to the majority of their votes.

14. The Lieutenant-Governor is anxious to ensure the success

of the new rules, and with this object has been
operation of the
 [ 72 ]

careful to provide that all the subsidiary arrangements now sanc-

tioned shall, as far as possible be giving effect to by the local
bodies concerned with the minimum official interference. He is
confident, however, that District Magistrates will afford any
assistance that may be required and do their utmost to facilitate
the smooth working of the elections. The experiment now being
tried is one of considerable importance, and the arrangements
made are necessarily of an experimental character, and will be
reconsidered, if experience shows that they required modification.

Ordered that a copy of this Resolution be furnished to all

Commissioners for information and guidance and for communica-
tion to all the District Boards and Municipalities in their Divisions.

Ordered also that a copy be published in the Calcutta Gazette.

Ordered also that a copy be submitted with a covering letter
to the Government of India for information.

By order of the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal,

H. J. S. COTTON.
Chief Secretary to the Government of Bengal.
 THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCILS.
BOMBAY SCHEME.
The following notification has been published in a Bombay
Government Gazette Extraordinary :

No. 40 of 1893 Legislative Department,

BOMBAY CASTLE, 17th March, 1893.
Letter from the Secretary to the Government of India, Home
Department, No. 328, dated the 13th March, 1893 Enclosing
copy of the Regulations under Section 1, sub-section 4 of the
Indian Councils Act, 1892, as approved by the Secretary of State
in Council, and requesting that they may be published for general
information as having been made by the Governor-General in
Council and approved by the Secretary of State in Council,

Resolution : The Regulations as made by the Governor-

General in Council and approved by the Secretary of State in
Council under Section 1 (4) of the Indian Councils Act, 1892, for
Bombay, should be laid on the editor's table without delay.
2. In accordance with Rule IX, the advice and assistance
of certain bodies and Associations, described in Rule II, will be
invited at the earliest possible opportunity by His Excellency the
Governor with a view to obtaining their recommendations of
persons to be nominated by His Excellency the Governor as
Additional Members of Council for his assistance in making
Laws and Regulations.

(Signed) W. LEE WARNER,

Secretary to Government*

No. 41 LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT,

BOMBAY CASTLE, 17th March, 1893.

NOTIFICATION.
The Governor in Council is pleased to notify for general in-
formation that the following Regulations made by the Governor-
General in Council under Section 1 (4) of the Indian Councils Act,
1892, for Bombay have been approved by the Secretary of State
in Council:

I Of the persons, other than the Advocate-General or officer

acting in that capacity, to be nominated Additional Members of
10
 [ 74]
Council by the Governor of Bombay for his assistance in making
Laws and Regulations, not more than nine shall be officials.
II The nominations to eight seats shall be made by the
Governor on the recommendation of the following JBodies and
Associations respectively, namely,

A The Corporation of Bombay ;

B Such Municipal Corporations or group or groups of Munici.
pal Corporations other than the Corporations of the City of Bombay
as the Governor in Council may from time to time prescribe by
notification in the Bombay Government Gazette.

C. Such District Local Boards, or group or groups of Dis-

trict Local Boards, as the Governor in Council may from time to
time prescribe as aforesaid ;

D. The Sardars of the Deccan or such other class of large

landholders as the Governor in Council may from time to time
prescribe as aforesaid ;

E. Such Association or Associations of merchants, manu-

facturers or tradesmen as the Governor in Council may from time
to time prescribe as aforesaid ;

-The Senate of the University of Bombay ;

F.
Provided that the bodies described above under A, B. C. D E.
and F, respectively, shall each (except as hereinafter provided in
Rule VII) have at least one person nominated upon its recom-
mendation., and A. and F. not more than one each.
III. The Governor may, at his discretion, nominate persons
to such of the remaining seats as shall not be filled by officials, in
such manner as shall, in his opinion, secure a fair representation
of the different classes of the community.

IV. When a vacancy occurs and is to be filled under Rule II.

of these Regulations, the Governor shall cause the proper Body or
group of Bodies, or Associations or Association, to be requested to
recommend a person for nomination by the Governor.
V. The recommendation shall be made-
fa) In the case of Municipal Corporation or of a District
Local Board, or of the Sardars of the Deccan, or such other class
of large landholders as the Governor in Council may from time to
time prescribe, or of the Senate of the University, by a majority
of votes of the Corporation, Board, Body, or Senate, respectively.

(6) In the case of Associations not established by law, in the

manner laid down in their rules or articles of association for carry-
ing resolutions or recording decisions upon qeustions of business
brought before the Association,
 [75]
In the case of a group of Municipal Corporations, Dis-
(c)
trict Local Boards, or Associations, by the majority of votes of
representatives to be appointed, according to such scale as the
Governor .in Council may from to time prescribe, by the Corpora-
tions, Boards, or Associations.
VI. be a condition in the case of any person to be re-
It shall
commended by a Municipal Corporation or group of Municipal
Corporations that he shall be a person ordinarily resident within
the Municipality of the distrcit in which it is situated or in some
one of the Municipalities constituting the group or of the districts
in which they are situated. A similar condition shall also apply
to persons to be recommended by District Local Boards.

VII. If within two months after receiving the request of

the Governor as provided by Rule IV. the Body or A ssociation
or group of Bodies or Associations fails to make a recommenda-
tion, the Governor may nominate at his discretion a person,
belonging to the class which the Body or Association or group is
deemed to represent.

VIII.If the Governor shall decline to nominate any person

who has been, under these Regulations, recommended for nomi-
nation, a fresh request shall be issued as provided in Rule IV, and
the procedure laid down in Rules V, and VII. shall apply.

IX. (a) As soon as conveniently may be after these Regula-

tions come into force, eight of the seats held by non -official
persons shall be filled up by recommendation under Rule II.

(b) If there shall not be the full number of eight vacancies

available for this purpose, the Governor shall determine at his
discretion, subject always to the proviso in Rule II ; which of the
Bodies or groups mentioned in that rule shall be requested to re-
commend the persons to fill up such vacancies as may then be
available ; and so whenever, and as often as any other vacancies
among non-official members become available until the full num-
ber of eight has been completed.

By order of His Excellency the Right Hon'ble the Governor

in Council.

(Signed) W. LEE WARNER,

Secretary of Government,
 THE INDIAN COUNCILS ACT.
The Madras Government, Order dated 12th
resolution of the
April 1893, No. 32, Legislative. The Regulations framed under
section 1 (4) of the Indian Councils Act, 1892, will be published in
the Fort St, George and all District Gazettes in English and the
Vernaculars.

2. There are at present (including the Advocate-General)

eight additional members of Council. As it has been decided to
bring the Council up to its full legal strength, the additional mem-
bers (including the Advocate-General) will in future number
twenty-one and of these at least one-half that is, eleven must be
non-officials. The Council contains at present four official addi-
tional members (including the Advocate-General) and four non-
officials. There are thus six official and seven non-official vacan-
cies to be filled up.

3. His Excellency the Governor has decided, with reference

to Rule II, to fill the non-official seats in the following manner :

1. Upon the recommendation of A (the Madras Municipal

Commission) .

2. Upon the recommendation of B (the District Munici-

palities).

2. Upon the rcommendation of C (the District Boards).

1. Upon the recommendation of D (the Chamber of Com-

merce, Madras).
1 .
Upon the recommendation of E (the Senate of the Madras
University).

4. The President of the Madras Municipal Commission, the

Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and the Registrar of the
University will accordingly be requested to communicate to the
Chief Secretary to Government, within two months of the date of
receipt by them of this Proceedings, the name of the candidate
re-
commended by the Commission, the Chamber and the Senate, res-
pectively. In this connection the attention of the Chamber of Com-
merce will be drawn to Rule V
(b) which regulates the method
in which recommendation should be made.

5. With a view to rendering the system of representation

now introduced into the Council as complete as possible, the
 [ 77]
Government has resolved to allow each District Municipality and
each District Board propose a candidate. As there are two
to
seats available for the Municipalities and Boards alike, His Excel-
lency in Council considers that it will be advisable to divide both
Municipalities and Boards into two groups a Northern and a
Southern. The Northern group will consist of the districts of
Ganjam, Vizagapatam, Godavari, Kistna, Nellore, Kurnool, Bel-
lary, Anantapur, Cuddapah, Chingleput and North Arcot and
the Municipalities contained therein. The Southern group will
consist of the remaining districts (except Madras) and of the
Municipalities contained therein. To the Northern group of
Municipalities will be allotted one seat and to the Southern group
also one seat ; similarly, the Northern and Southern groups of
District Boards will each have one seat.

6. As a each Municipality and each District Board

first step,
must submit, so as to reach the Chief Secretary by the 20th May
next, a statement containing two names, of which one will be that
of the person whom the Municipality or District Board proposes
as candidate for ultimate recommendation to His Excellency the
Governor for nomination to the Legislative Council, while the other
will be that of the person whom the Municipality or Board intends
to appoint as its voting delegate ; the voting delegate must always
be a member of the Municipality or District Board concerned.
In this connection the Government thinks it advisable to draw
attention to Rule. VI. A
Municipality or Board in the Northern
group may propose as a candidate any person resident within the
Northern group of districts, and, similarly, a Municipality or Board
in the Southern group may propose any person resident in the
Southern group of districts. Any person desirous of being
nominated to the Legislative Council should submit his name to
one of the Municipalities or District Boards in the group wherein
he resides.

7. receipts of the said statements, the Chief Secretary

Upon
will compile therefrom a list containing the names of all the
candidates proposed and of all the voting delegates and will
circulate it as soon as possible to all the Municipalities and
District Boards in the group.

8. At noon on the 1 7th July next, the voting delegates of

the Northern group of Municipalities will assemble at Bezvada
and will proceed to elect from among those candidates proposed
by the Northern group of Municipalities one person for final
recommendation to His Excellency the Governor. The election
shall be by ballot and the person elected must obtain a clear
majority of the votes of the delegates present and voting. If at
the first ballot an absolute majority of the votes of such delegates
is not obtained, the ballot shall be repeated until such majority is
 [ 78 ]

obtained. The election must be completed by noon of the 18th July

at latest,and the result will be immediately reported to the Chief
Secretary to Government by the Collector of Kistna to whom the
general superintendence and arrangement of the election will be
entrusted. On the same day at noon the voting delegates for the
Southern group of Municipalities will meet at Trichinopoly and
will in every way conform to the above rules ; in the case of this
group the Collector of Trichinopoly will be responsible for the
proper conduct of the election.
9. Exactly similar rules will guide the election of representa-
tivesby the Northern and Southern groups of District Boards,
except that in their case the delegates will meet at noon on the
18th July and must complete the election by noon or the 19th
idem at latest. It is thought advisable to make this distinction
in the dates in order fco avoid the chance of the Municipalities
and Board of a group electing the same representative.
10. The following Notification will be published in the Fort
St. George Gazette.

NOTIFICATION.

The Governor in Council is pleased, with reference to Rule II

of the Rules made under section 1 (4) of the Indian Councils Act,
1892, to declare that, for the present, one seat in the Legislative
Council will be filled upon the recommendation of each of the
following groups of Municipalities and District Boards and of the
following Association of Merchants :-

(i) The Municipal Councils situated in the districts of Gan-

jam, Vizagapatam, Godavari, Kristna, Kurnool, Bellary, Ananta-
pur, Cuddapah, North Arcot and Chingleput.

(ii) The Municipal Councils situated in the districts of South

Arcot, Salem, Coimbatore, Trichinopoly, Tanjore, Madura, Tinne-
velly, Nilgiris, Malabar and South Canara.

(iii) The District Boards of Ganjam, Vizagapatam, Godavari

Kistna, Nellore, Kurnool, Bellary, Anantapur, Cuddapah, North
Arcot and Chingleput.

(iv) The Boards of South Arcot, Coimbatore, Trichi-

District
noply, Tanjore, Madura, Tinnevelly,, Nilgiris, Malabar, and South
Canara.

(v) The Chamber of Commerce, Madras.

(True Extract)

A. BUTTERWORTH,
Ag< Under Secy, to Govt.
 THE NEW LEGISLATIVE COUNCILS.
THE N-W. P. SYSTEM.
The orders of Government on the subject of the introduction
of the elective principle for the nomination of members of the
Legislative Council from the Municipalities and District Boards
are published in Saturday's Gazette. They are to the following
effect :

Under Section 1 (4) of the Indian Councils Act, 1892, for the
North- Western Provinces and Oudh> the Lieutenant-Governor is
pleased to prescribe the following groups of Municipal Boards for
the purpose of recommending to him two persons for nomination
as Councillors for his assistance in making Laws and Regulations
at the present time :

First group. Second group.

Lucknow. Benares.
Agra. Allahabad.
Bareilly. Cawnpore.
Meerut. Gorakhpur.
Fyzabad. Muttra,
Under Regulations V (c) of the above Regulations, the Lieu-
tenant-Governor is pleased to prescribe that each of the aforesaid
Municipal Boards shall, upon receiving a request under Regula-
tion IV, appoint a representative. The representatives of the first
group shall meet at Lucknow, and those of the second group at
Allahabad, and shall, on behalf of their respective groups,
recommend one person to the Lieutenant-Governor by a majority
of their votes. Such person in accordance with Regulation VI
shall be ordinarily resident in some one of the Municipalities con-
stituting the group.
Under Regulation II B of the Regulations under section 1
(4) of the Indian Councils Act, 1892, for the North-Western
Provinces and Oudh the Lieutenant-Governor is pleased to consti-
tute the undermentioned District Boards as two groups for the
purpose of recommending to him two persons for nomination as
Councillors for his assistance in making Laws and Regulations
at the present time :

First group Second group

Dehra. Cawnpore.
Saharanpur. Fatehpur.
Muzaffarnagar. Banda.
Meerut. Hamirpur.
Bulandshahr. Allahabad.
Aligarh. Jhansi.
Muttra. Jalaun.
 First group. Second group.
Agra. Benares,
Farukhabad. Mirzapur.
Mainpuri. Jaunpur.
Etawah. Ghazipur.
Etab. Ballia.
Bareilly. Gorakhpur.
Bijnor. Basti.
Budaun, Azamgarh.
Moradabad. Fyzabad.
Shahjahanpur. Gonda.
Pilibhit. Bahraich.
Lucknow. Sultanpur.
Unao. Partabgarb.
Rae Bareli. Bara Banki.
Sitapur.
Hardoi.
Kneri.

Under Regulation V (c) of the above Regulations the Lieute-

nant-Governor is pleased to prescribe that each of the aforesaid
District Boards shall upon receiving a request under Regulation
IV appoint one representative. The representatives of the District
Boards in the first group shall meet at Lucknow : those of the
District Boards in the second group shall meet at Allahabad. The
representatives shall on behalf of their respective groups recom-
mend a person to the Lieutenant-Governor by a majority of their
votes. Such person in accordance with Regulation VI shall be
ordinarily resident in some one of the districts constituting
the group.
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT
OF MADRAS, GOVERNMENT OP INDIA AND THE
RIGHT HONORABLE SECRETARY OP STATE.

From C. J. LYALL, Esq, C.I.E., Secretary to the Government

of India, Home Department (Public), to the Chief Secre-
tary to the Government of Madras, dated Calcutta, 13th
March 1893, No. 327 :

With reference to the correspondence ending with my letter

to your address No. 2137, dated the 27th October 1892, on the
subject of the Regulations to be made under section I, sub-section
(4), of the Indian Councils Act, 1892, I am directed to enclose for
the information of the Governor in Council a copy of a despatch
No. 68, dated the 26th October 1892, with which the Government
of India forwarded for the approval of the Secretary of State
in Council a draft of such regulations for the Legislative
Council of His Excellency the Governor of Madras, and of His
Lordship's reply No. 24, dated the 16th February 1893, con-
veying his approval of the draft subject to certain modifications.
A copy of the regulations as now approved is also enclosed, and
1 am to request that they may, under the orders of the Governor
in Council, be published for general information as having been
made by the Governor General in Council and approved by the.
Secretary of State in Council. They will appear in the next
issue of the Gazette of India.

2. It will be observed that the regulations now forwarded

from the draft which accompanied your
differ slightly letter No.
49, dated the 3rd September 1892.

Rule I of that draft followed too closely the wording of the

draft proposed for the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, where
the number of Councillors has to be fixed by a proclamation issued
under section 1, sub-section (2), of the Statute; in Madras sub-
section (I) of the same section specifies the number of additional
Members of Council who may be nominated, and no proclamation
is necessary.

In Rule II it will be observed that ' Governor in Council"

'

has been substituted for (e Governor" in sub-clauses B, C, and D,

and a proviso has been added limiting the number of members to
be recommended by the Madras Corporation, the Association or
Associations of Merchants, and the Senate of the Madras Univer-
city, to one each.
11
 t 82 ]

In Rule III slight differences of wording will be noticed ; it is

believed that peshhash is a more accurate term for the payments
made by great zemindars than " Land Revenue/' and the proviso
has been so worded that, if one of the recommended seats should
be held by a zemindar coming under the description given, the
Governor will be at liberty to dispose of the seat thus set free by
simple nomination.
In Rule V the Government of India decided upon full con-
sideration to retain the wording of the original draft which
accompanied my letter No. 1805, dated the 15th August 1892 :

here too it be observed that

will
" Governor in Council" has been
substituted for
" Governor."

Rule VII of the original draft has been omitted for the reason
stated in paragraph 4 of the despatch from the Secretary of State.
Should an official be recommended for nomination by any of the
recommending bodies specified in Rule II, it would always be
open to the Governor, if he thought that the officer's nomination
to the Council was undesirable either because he could not be
spared from his duties or for any other reason, to request the body
to reeommend some other person. If the nomination of an official
disturbed the proportion of official to non-official members required
by Rule I, the recommendation would have to be rejected unless
one of the other official members consented to resign his seat so as
to restore the right proportion. If the official were accepted and
nominated to the Council, this would give the Governor another
nomination which might be filled under Rule III.

Rule IX has been drawn, in accordance with the suggestions

at theend of paragraph 5 of your letter of thn 3rd September, to
provide for the interval which must elapse before the system of
nomination by recommendation come fully into force.
3. I am to add that His Excellency the Viceroy proposes, at
the meeting of the Legislative Council of the Governor General to
be held on the 16th instant, to make a statement explaining the
operation of the new rules, and I am to invite thereto the atten-
tion of His Excellency the Governor in Council. The principles
which should be followed in making nominations have already
been fully stated in my letter of the 15th August last and its
enclosures, and have now received the approval of the Secretary
of State. The Government of India have no doubt that these
principles will be carefully observed by His Excellency the
Governor of Madras in Council.
4. In connection with the enlargement of the Legislative
Councils which has been effected by the Statute of 1892 the
Government of India have had under consideration the question
whether any travelling allowances should be granted to non-offi-
cial members of the local Councils when summoned to attend a
 [83]
Council from a place other than the head-quarters of the Govern-
ment, and have decided that such members shall receive first-class
travelling allowances at the ordinary rates for each journey to
and from their homes. Article 1283 -of the Civil Servico Regu-
lations will be amended accordingly.

ENCLOSURES.

Despatch from the Government of India, Home Department

(Public), to the Right Honorable the Secretary of State
for India, dated Simla, 26th October 1892, No. 68.

In continuation of our despatch No. 57, dated the 23rd

August last, we have now the honour to address Your Lordship
in regard to the regulations which should be made, in exercise of
the powers conferred upon us by section 1, clause (4), of the
Indian Councils Act, 1892, as to nominations to Local Legislative
Councils. We are not yet prepared to submit, for Your Lordship's
consideration, regulations dealing with the Governor-General's
Council, both because we wish, before doing so, to ascertain your
views in regard to the draft regulations for Local Councils, which
are enclosed in this despatch, and also because we have not yet
received replies to all the letters which we addressed to the
Provinces having no Legislative Councils of their own. We
anticipate no difficulty, however, in framing regulations for the
Supreme Council based upon the general principles embodied in
the drafts herewith forwarded. As indicated in our letters to
Local Governments of the 15th August last, we believe that the
Local Legislative Councils, as reconstituted in each Province
under the rules now to be made, will afford the best agency by
which recommendations for seats in the enlarged Council of the
Governor-General for making laws and regulations can be
furnished. As regards Provinces not possessing Legislative
Councils, the views which we are disposed to hold will be found
stated in our letter of the 22nd August, in which those Provinces
were consulted.

2. In considering the shape which the regulations should

take, we have borne in mind the fact that, although the Act just
maximum number of additional
passed considerably increases the
Members or Councillors who may be summoned to assist the
Heads of the Supreme and Local Governments in the task of legis-
lation, the numbers fixed are nevertheless such as altogether to
preclude the idea of any detailed and individual representation
of the multifarious interests and numerous local divisions of the
Indian Empire. We have also kept in view the considerations
stated in paragraph 6 of your predecessor's despatch of the 30th
June last, that the ultimate nominating authority must still
rest with those to whom it was entrusted by the Statute of 1861,
 [84]
and that the intention of the Legislature was that " where Cor-
porations have been established with definite powers, upon a
recognised administrative basis, or where Associations have been
formed upon a substantial community of legitimate interests, pro-
fessional, commercial, or territorial, the Governor-General and
the local Governors might find convenience and advantage in
consulting from time to time such bodies and in entertaining at their
discretion an expression of their views and recommendations
with regard to the selection of members in whose qualifications
they might be disposed to confide." We have further given our
attention to the opinions expressed in the debates in Parliament
when the measure to which effect is now to be given was under
discussion. It appears to us that, having in view the numerical
limits before referred to and their necessary consequence, and the
paramount necessity of giving to all important interests in the
country as much representation in the Councils as is possible, the
first point for determination is the nature and number of the
interests which should be represented. Indian society, from the
historical causes to which we need not now refer, is essentially a
congeries of widely separated classes, races, and communities,
with divergencies of interests and hereditary sentiment which
for ages have precluded common action or local unanimity.
Representation of such a community, upon such a scale as the Act
permits, can only be secured by providing that each important
class shall at least have the opprtunity of making its views
known in the Council by the mouth of some member speci-
ally acquainted with them. Where such a representation can
be secured by the common action of any such bodies as are
referred to in Lord Cross's despatch, we are prepared to
resort to the method of entertaining an expression of their views
and recommendations in the manner suggested by him ; but
outside such bodies it is clearly necessary to reserve the power of
nomination by less formal methods for classes which, though of
importance in the community, are not in numerical preponder-
ance or are unaccustomed to act together.

3. Accordingly, in consulting the Local Governments on the

subject, we first invited their opinion as to the several classes to
which representation should be allotted, and then as to the number
of non-official seats in the Councils which could be filled on the
advice of recommending bodies, and the number which it was
necessary to hold in reserve, with the view of redressing any
inequality or defect to which the system of recommendation might
lead. Your Lordship will observe from the replies enclosed that
the general features of the scheme framed by us have been
received with unanimous approval by the Governments consulted,
and that they agree in considering that it affords a fair basis for
giving effect to the intentions of Parliament. We have explained
in the letters to the several Provinces that we have designedly
 [85]
left the rules as elastic as possible iii view of the present tentative
and experimental stage of the problem, in order that any step
which is found to be injudicious may be easily capable for revoca-
tion. We hope, however, that we have succeeded 4ii giving to
our proposals a form sufficiently definite to secure a satisfactory
advance in. the representation of the people in our Legislative
Councils, and to give effect to the principle of selection, as far as
possible, upon the advice of such sections of the community as are
likely to be capable of assisting us in that manner.
4. Withthese preliminary remarks we beg to invite Your

E Cl<
r Lordship's attention to the drafts*which
8 2> 3
and 4.
'
we enclose Jt wil1 be observed that they
-

are all cast in the same mould. con- We

sider it essential that there should be, as at present, an official
majority in the Councils ; but we have taken measures to restrict
the preponderance of officials as much as possible, consistently
with that principle. We have provided in the case of each
Province that a majority of the non-official seats shall be filled
by recommendation ; and we have laid it down, in Rule III, that
in the case of the remaining' seats the Head of the Government
shall make his nominations in such a manner as shall secure, in
the whole Council, a fair representation of the different classes
of the community. In Madras and Bengal it will be observed
that the Government consider that the great landholders may
most suitably, in accordance with their own sentiments, be repre-
sented by a nominated member. The Governments of Bombay
and the North-Western Provinces and Oudh are of a different
opinion, and h^ve left these seats to be filled by recommendation.
In Rule VI we have not thought it expedient for the present to
specify any qualification other than that of residence in the case of
the Rural and Urban recommending bodies ; and in Rule YII we
have declared that officials shall not be eligible for recommen-
dation. Your Lordship will observe that the Government of
Bombay have called in question the legality of this exclusion.
It does not, however, appear to us that the terms of the Act pre-
clude us from prescribing any qualification for nomination to the
Councils that may seem expedient, and we are of opinion that the
position of an official member is inconsistent with that represen-
tative character which we desire to give to the non-official
element. Rule IX reserves to the Head of the Government the
power of rejection of a peron recommended, which is necessary
in view of the responsibility which, as Lord Cross has pointed out,
still attaches to the nominating authority for a proper selection of
a Member of Council. Rlue X is a rule of temporary application,
intended to provide for the time which must elapse before the re-
gulations now proposed come completely into operation.
5. We trust that the regulations now submitted will meet
with the approval of Your Lordship in Council, and that that
 [ 86 ]

approval may be signified to us in time to admit of their promul-

gation by the 1st of January next.

6, With our despatch of the 23rd August we forwarded for

Your Lordship's sanction the rules which we had made under
section 2 of the Statute for the discussion of the Financial State-
ment and for asking questions in the Legislative Council of the
Governor-General, The rules submitted by the Local Govern-
ments fall within our power of sanction ; but the consideration
of the drafts submitted has led us to think that some improve-
* Enclosure No.
,
vr e
5. i j j 111
ments are possible in the question rules
enclosed in our despatch, and we now
forward a revised copy * of those rules to which we solicit Your
Lordship's approval.

7.In connection with this subject we beg to invite Your

Lordship's attention to paragraph 7 of the letter from the Govern-
ment of Bombay, and paragraph 11 of that from the Government
of the North- Western Provinces and Oudh, in which enquiry is
made whether the Council can be summoned for the purpose of a
discussion of the Financial Statement, or of giving replies to
questions when no legislative work is before it. The question is
not one of much practical importance, as, if it is held that the
Council cannot meet except for the purpose of making laws and
regulations, it will in most cases be easy to arrange for some
formal legislative business to be taken in order to admit of the
Financial Statement being discussed or questions asked ; but we
shall be glad to be favoured with Your Lordship's opinion upon
the point raised. The decision appears to turn upon the interpre-
tation of the words in section 2
" at
any meeting of the Governor-
General's Council for the purpose of making laws and regulations."
Do the words " for the purpose of making laws and regulations "
" " " "
qualify the word meeting or the word Council ? In favour
of the latter interpretation it may be urged that the " Council for
the purpose of making laws and regulations" is merely an exten-
ded phrase for what is commonly called the Legislative Council,
and would be so understood apart from the language used in the
Indian Councils Act, 1861. On the other hand, the earlier Statute
does not seem to recognise any separate Legislative Council. The
Council is that of the Governor-General or Governor meeting and
having additional members for his assistance in making laws.
Section 7 and the last words of section 2 of the Act of 1892 have
been relied on as showing that the words "for the purpose of
(f "
making laws and regulations" should be read with meeting,
and the same inference has been drawn from the comma which,
in the last sentence of section 9 of the Act of 1861, separates the
words " meeting! of the Council" from the words "for tho
"
purpose o making laws and regulations only.
 [ 87 ]

Draft Regulations under Section 1 (4) of the Indian

Councils Act, 1892, for Madras.
I. Of the persons, other than the Advocate-General or officer
acting in that capacity, to be nominated Additienal Members of
Council by the Governor of Madras for his assistance in making
Laws and Regulations not more than nine shall be officials.
II. The nominations to seven seats shall be made by the
Governor on the recommendation of the following bodies and
Associations, respectively, namely,
A. The Corporation of Madras ;
B.- Such Municipal Corporations or group or groups of
Municipal Corporations other than the Corporation
of Madras as the Governor in Council may from time
to time prescribe by Notification in the Fort 8t. George
Gazette ;

C. Such District Boards, or group or groups of District

Boards as the Governor in Council may from time to
time prescribe as aforesaid ;

D.Such Association or Associations of merchants, manu-

facturers or tradesmen as the Governor in Council
may from time to time prescibe as aforesaid ;
E. The Senate of the University of Madras :

Proivded that the bodies described above under A, B, C, D,

and E, respectively, shall each (except as hereinafter provided in
Rule VIII) have at least one person nominated upon its recom-
mendation, and A, D, and E, not more than one each.
III. The Governor may at his discretion nominate persons
to such of the remaining seats as shall not be filled by officials in
such manner as shall in his opinion secure a fair representation of
the different classes of the community ; provided that one seat
shall ordinarily be held by a zemindar paying not less than
Rs. 20,000 as peshkash annually to Government-
IV. When a vacancy occurs and is to be filled under Rule
II of these regulations, the Governor shall cause the proper body
or group of bodies or Association or Associations to be requested
to recommend a person for nomination by the Governor.

V. The recommendation shall be made

(a) in the case of a Municipal Corporation or of a District

Board, or of the Senate of the University, by a
majority of votes of the Corporation, Board, or
Senate respectively ;
(6) in the case of Associations not established by law* in the
manner laid down in their rules or articles of associa-
tion for carrying resolutions or recording decisions
 [ 88 ]

upon questions of business brought before the

Association ;
(c) in the case of a group of Municipal Corporations, District
Boards, or Associations, by the majority of votes of
representatives to be appointed, according to such
scale as the Governor in Council may from time to
time prescribe by the Corporations, Boards, or Asso-
ciations.
VI. It shall be a condition in the case of any person to be
recommended by a Municipal Corporation or group of Municipal
Corporations that he shall be a person ordinarily resident within the
Municipality or the district in which it is situated, or in some one
of the Municipalities constituting the group or of the districts in
which they are situated. A
similar condition shall also apply to
persons to be recommended by District Boards.
VII. No
persons actually in the service of Government shall
be eligible recommendation as a representative of any of the
for
bodies or Associations mentioned in Rule II.
VIII. If within two months after receiving the request of
the Governor as provided by Rule IV the body or Association of
or group of bodies or Associations fails to make a recom-
mendation, the <j.overnor may nominate at his discretion a
person belonging to the class which the body or Association or
group is deemed to represent.
IX. The Governor may reject any recommendation made
under these regulations. In case oi: such rejection, a fresh request
shall be issued as provided in Rule IV, and the procedure laid
down in Rules V and VIII shall apply.
X. (a) As soon as conveniently may be after these regula-
tions come into force, seven of the seats held by non-official per-
sons shall be up by recommendation under Rule II.
filled

(6) be the full number of seven vacancies

If there shall not
available at once for this purpose, the Governor shall determine at
his discretion, subject always to the proviso in Rule II, which of
the bodies or groups mentioned in that Rule shall be requested
to recommend the persons to fill up such vacancies as may then
be available and so whenever and as often as any further vacan-
;

cies among non-official members become available, until the full

number of seven has been completed.

Despatch from the Right Honorable Lord Kimberley, Her

Majesty's Secretary of State for India, to His Excellency
the Most Honorable the Governor-General of India in
Council, dated India Office, London, 16th February 1893,
No. 24, Public.
The draft rules for Local Councils which have been prepared
in exercise of the powers conferred
upon you by section 1, clause 4,
 [ 39 ]

4, ofthe Indian Councils Acfc, 1892, and which are forwarded with
your letter in the Home Department, No, 68 (Public), of the 26th
of October last, have been considered by me in Council.

2. It appears to me that these proposed regulations are in

the main well adapted to carry out the intentions of Parliament.
There are, however, two points in respect of which some modifica-
tion is, in my opinion, desirable.

3. The Government of Bombay objected, as you inform me, to

the declaration in Rule VII that officials shall not be eligible as
representatives of any of the bodies or associations mentioned in
Rule II, on the ground that such a declaration is illegal. I am,
however, advised by the Law Officers of the Crown that the pro-
posed regulation is not objectionable in law.
4. Nevertheless, having regard to the fact that the provisions
for the nomination of additional members to the Councils, which
these regulations will bring into force, are new and have not yet
beau tested in operation, I am unwilling at their first introduction,
and before they have been tried, to place any restrictions that are
not clearly necessary upon the power of recommendation to be
vested in certain bodies or associations. It seems to me preferable
to refrain from imposing on the general authority of the several
Governors and Lieutenant- Governors a limit which is not required
by the Statute, and of which the publication might produce an
erroneous impression as to the relations between the official classes
and the population of the country at large. I have therefore
decided not to sanction this rule.

5. The second point which I would direct the attention of

Your Excellency in Council is that the first sentence of Rule IX is
unnecessary, the power of nomination being vested by Statute in
the Head of the Government. The words " If the Governor (or
Lieutenant- Governor) shall decline te nominate any persons who
"
has been, under these regulations, recommended for nomination
should be substituted for that sentence and the first five words of
the second.

6. Subject to these modifications I approve the draft regula-

tions for Local Councils which you have prepared.
In the last paragraph of your letter you ask my opinion
7.

upon the question whether the Council can be summoned for the
purpose of a discussion of the Financial Statement, or of giving
replies to questions, when no legislative business is before it. I
am advised that a meeting of the Council can be summoned only
for the purpose of making laws and regulations, and that it cannot
legally be summoned for the purpose of merely discussing the
Financial Statement or of giving replies to questions at a time when
there is no (strictly) legislative business before it.
12
 -[ .90 ]

Regulations under Section 1 (4) of the Indian

Councils Act, 1892, for Madras.
I. Of the persons, other than the Advocate-General ol
officeracting in that capacity, to be nominated Additionar
Members of Council by the Governor of Madras for his assistance
in making Laws and Regulations, not more than nine shall be
officials.

II. The nominations to seven seats shall be made by the

Governor on the recommendation of the following bodies and
associations, respectively, namely,
A. The Corporation of Madras ;

B. Such Municipal Corporations or group or groups of

Municipal Corporations other than the Corporation
of Madras as the Governor in Council may from time
to tim eprescribe by notification in the Fort St. Ueorge
Gazette ;

C Such District Boards, or groups of District Boards, as

the Governor in Council may from time to time pres-
cribe as aforesaid ;
.Such Association or Associations of merchants, manu-
D.
facturers or tradesmen as the Governor in Council
may from time to time prescribe as aforesaid ;

E. The Senate of the University of Madras :

Provided that the bodies described above under A, B, C, D,

and E, respectively, shall each (except as hereinafter provided in
Kule VII) have at least one person nominated upon its recommen-
dation, and A, D and E not more than one each.

III. The Governor may discretion nominate persons

at his
to such of the be filled by officials in
remaining seats as shall not
such manner as shall in his opinion secure a fair representation of
the different classes of the community ; provided that one seat
shall ordinarily be held by a zemindar paying not less than
Rs. 20,000 as peshkash annually to Government.

IV. When a vacancy occurs and

is to be filled under Rule II
Governor shall cause the proper body or
of these Regulations, the
group of bodies or association or associations to be requested to
recommend a person for nomination by the Governor.
V. The recommendation shall be made
(a) in the case of a Municipal Corporation or of a District
Board, or of the Senate of the University, by a
majority of votes of the Corporation, Board, or
Senate respectively ;
(b) in the case of associations not established by law, in the
manner laid down in their rules or articles o
 L 91 ]

association for carrying resolutions or recording

decisions upon questions of business brought before
the associations ;

(c) in the case of a group of Municipal Corporations,

District Boards, or Associations, by the majority of
votes of representatives to be appointed, according
to such scale as the Governor in Council may from .

time to time prescribe, by the Corporations, Boards,

or Associations

VI. be a condition in the case of any person to be

It shall
recommended by a Municipal Corporation or group of Municipal
Corporations that he shall be a person ordinarily resident within
the Municipality or the district in which it is situated, or in some
one of the Municipalities constituting the group or of the districts
in which they are situated. A similar condition shall also apply to
persons to be recommended by District Boards.
VII. If within two months after receiving the request of
the Governor as provided by Rule IV the body or association or
group of bodies or associations fails to make a recommendation,
the Governor may nominate at his discretion a person belonging
to the class which the body or asssociation or group is deemed to
represent.
VIII. If the Governor shall decline to nominate any person
who has been, under these Regulations, recommended for nomi-
nation, a fresh request shall be issued as provided in Rule IV, and
the procedure laid down in Rules V and VII shall apply.
IX. (a) As soon as conveniently may be after these
Regulations come into force, seven of the seats held by non-official
persons shall be filled up by recommendation under Rule II.
(6) If there shall not be the full number of seven vacancies
available at once for this purpose, the Governor shall determine
at his discretion, subject always to the proviso in Rule II, which
of the bodies or groups mentioned in that rule shall be requested
to recommend the persons to fill up such vacancies as may then be
available and so whenever and as often as any further vacancies'
;

among non-official members become available, until the full num-

berr of seven has been completed.

ORDER dated 12th April 1893, No. 32, Legislative.

The Regulations framed under section 1 (4) of the Indian
Councils Act, 1892, will be published in the Fort St. George and
all District Gazettes in English and the Vernaculars.
2.There are at present (incluffmg the Advocate-General)
eight additional members of Council. As it has been decided to
bring the Council up to its full legal strength, the additional mem-
 [ 92 ]

bera (including the Advocate-General) future number

will in
twenty-one and of these at least one-half that eleven must
is,
be non-officials. The Council contains at present four official
additional members (including the Advocate-General) and four
non-official. There are thus six official and seven non-official
vacancies to be filled up.

3. His Excellency the Governor has decided, with refer-

ence to Rule II, to fill the non-official seats in the following
manner :

1 upon the recommendation of A (the Madras Municipal Com-

mission).
2 B (the District Municipalities).
2 C (the District Boards).
1 D (the Chamber of Commerce,
Madras).
1 E (the Senate of the Madras
University) .

4. The President of the Madras Municipal Commission, the

Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and the Registrar of the
University will accordingly be requested to communicate to the
Chief Secretary to Government, within two months of the date of
receipt by them of this Proceedings, the name of the candidate
recommended by the Commission, the Chamber and the Senate
respectively. In this connection the attention of the Chamber of
Commerce willbe drawn to rule V
(6) which regulates the method
in which recommendation should be made.

5. With a view to rendering the system of representation

now introduced into the Councils as complete as possible, the
Government has resolved to allow each District Municipality and
each District Board to propose a candidate. As there are two
seats available for the Municipalities and Boards alike, His Ex-
cellency in Council considers that it will be advisable to divide
both Municipalities and Boards into two groups a Northern and
a Southern. The Northern group will consist of the districts of
G an jam, Vizagapatam, Godavery, Kistna, Nellore, Kurnool,
Bellary, Anantapur, Cuddapah, Chingleput and North Arcot and
the Municipalities contained therein. The Southern group will
consist of the remaining districts (except Madras) and of the
Municipalities contained therein. To the Northern group of
wunicipalities will be allotted one seat and to the Southern group
also one seat ; similarly, the Northern and Southern groups of
District Boards will each have one seat.

6. As a first step, each Municipality and each District Board

must submit, so as to reach the Chief Secretary by the 20th May
next, a statement containing two names, of which one will be that
 [03]
of the person whom the Municipality or District Board proposes
as a candidate for ultimate recommendation to His Excellency
the Governor for nomination to the Legislative Council, while tho
other will be that of the person whom the Municipality or Board
intends to appoint as its voting delegate ; the voting delegate must
always be a member of the Municipality or District Board con-
cerned. In this connection the Government thinks it advisable to
draw attention to Rule VI. A
Municipality or Board in the Northern
group may propose as a candidate any person resident within the
Northern group of districts, and, similarly, a Municipality or
Board in the Southern group may propose any person resident in
the Southern group of districts. Any person desirous of being
nominated to the Legislative Council should submit his name to
one of the Municipalities or District Boards in the group wherein
he resides.

7. Uponreceipt of the said statements, the Chief Secretary

will (Compile therefrom alist containing the names of all the
candidates proposed and of all the voting delegates and will
circulate it as soon as possible to all the Municipalities and District
Boards in the group.

8. At noon on the 17th July next, the voting delegates of the

Northern group of Municipalities will assemble at Bezvada and
will proceed to elect from among the candidates proposed by the
Northern group of Municipalities one person for final recommend-
ation to His Excellency the Governor. The election shall be by
ballot and the person elected must obtain a clear majority of the
votes of the delegates present and voting If at the first ballot
an absolute majority of the votes of such delegates is not obtained,
the ballot shall be repeated until such majority is obtained. The
election must be completed by noon of the 18th July at latest, and
the result will be immediately reported to the Chief Secretary to
Government by the Collector of Kistna to whom the general
superintendence and arrangement of the election will be entrusted.
On the same day at noon the voting delegates for the Southern
group of Municipalities will meet at Trichinopoly and will in
every way conform to the above rules ; in the case of this group
the Collector of Trichinopoly will be responsible for the proper
conduct of the election.

Exactly similar rules will guide the election of representa-

9.
tives by the Northern and Southern groups of District Boards,
except that in their case the delegates will meet at noon on the
18th July and must complete the election by noon of the 19th idem
at latest. It is thought advisable to make this distinction in the
dates in order to avoid the chance of the Municipalities and Boards
of a group electing the same representative.
 10. The following Notification will be published iu the Fort
St. Qeorge Gazette :

NOTIFICATION.
The Governor in Council is pleased, with reference to Rule
II o the Rules made under section 1 (4). of the Indian Councils
Act, 1892, to declare that, for the present, one seat in the Legisla-
tive Council will be filled upon the recommendation of each of the
following groups of Municipalities and District Boards and of the
following Association of Merchants :

(i) The Municipal Councils situated in the districts of Ganjain,

Vizagapatarn, Godavari, Kistna, Nellore, Kurnool, Bellary,

Anantapur, Cuddapah, North Arcot and Chingleput.
(ii) The Municipal Councils situated in the districts of South

Arcot, Salem, Coimbatore, Trichinopoly, Tanjore, Madura, Tinne-

velly, Nilgiris, Malabar and South Canara.

(iii) The District Boards of Ganjam, Vizagapatam, Godavari,

Kistna, Nellore, Kurnool, Bellary, Anantapur, Cuddapah, North
Arcot and Chingleput.

(iv) The Boards of South Arcot, Salem, Coimbatore

District
Trichinopoly, Taujore, Madura, Tinnevelly, Nilgiris, Malabar and
South Canara.
(v) The Chamber of Commerce, Madras.
(True Extract.)
(Signed) A. BUTTERWORTH,
Ag. Under-Secy. to Govt.
 RULES-
For the conduct of business at meetings of the Council of ^'Govern-
or of Fort St. George for the purpose of making laws aud regu-
lations under the provisions of the Act of Parliament 24 and 25
Victoria Chap. 67.

MEETINGS.
I. The word Council as used in these rules shall mean the
Council of the Governor of Fort St. George assembled for the
purpose of making laws and regulations.
The word President as used in these rules shall mean the
Governor, or in his absence, the Senior Civil Ordinary member of
Council present and presiding.
II. The Governor shall appoint the times and places of meet-
ing of the Council.
III. The President may adjourn, without any discussion or
vote, any meeting or business, whether there be a quorum, present
or not, to any future day or to any part of the same day.

IV. Notice of all meetings and adjournments shall be given

to each member of the Council by the Assistant Secretary.
V. Any business not disposed of at the time of any adjourn-
ment shallon the next meeting of the Council take priority of
all other business whatever at such next meeting, unless other
wise specially ordered by the Governor.
VI. If at the time
appointed for the holding of any meeting
or adjourned meeting, as aforesaid, or if at
Quorum Section 34 of
the Act. any time after the commencement of busi-
ness at such meeting there be not present
the quorum required by Section 34 of the Indian Council's Act (that
is to say, the Governor or some
Ordinary member of Council and
four or more members of Council) then the members present
shall, without proceeding to business of any kind, adjourn until
again summoned by the Governor, In such case an entry shall
be made in the journal of the Council by the Assistant Secretary
of the hour at which the adjournment may have taken place and
of the names of the members present.

DISCUSSIONS-
VII. The President shall regulate the course of business at
each meeting of the Council, shall preserve order and regularity
in the proceedings of the Council, and shall decide all disputed
points of order without debate.
 [ 96 ]

VIII. Any Member may notice a violation of order by draw-

ing the attention of the President to it. When a Member is thus
addressing the President, any other Member who may be then
speaking shall cease until the point of order is settled.
IX. A decision of the President on a point of order shall
be heard in silence and shall be final.
X. If two or more Members speak at the same time, the
President shall decide which member is entitled to pre-audience,
and such decision shall not be open to question.
XL No Member shall be allowed to speak except upon a
question before the Council.
PETITIONS.
XII. Petitions to the Council must relate to some Bill actual-
ly under the consideration of the said Council. Every such petition
" To the Governor in
shall be superscribed Council," and shall be
dated and signed by the petitioner or petitioners. It shall be in
respectful and temperate language, and shall conclude with a
distinct prayer.

XIII. All petitions as aforesaid shall be transmitted to the

Assistant Secretary to Government in the Legislative Department.

XIV. The Assistant Secretary shall make an abstract of

every petition so received.
XV. If, in the judgment of the Assistant
Secretary, the
petition Le framed conformity with Rule No. XII, he shall
in
bring the petition under the consideration of the Council by
reading the abstract thereof and the prayer or the substance of
the prayer of the petiton ; where upon such petition shall be dealt
with in such manner as the Council may deem proper.
XVI. If, in the judgment of the Assistant Secretary, the
petition be not framed in conformity with Kule No. XII, or if he
have reason to doubt the authenticity of any signature there to,
he shall certify the same on the back of the petition, and shall
report the fact to the Council ; in which case the petition shall be
rejected by the Council, and the reason of such rejection shall be
communicated to, and the petition returned to, the petitioner or
petitioners.
XVII. Any Member may make a motion upon any petition
brought under the consideration of the Council by the Assistant
Secretary, and not rejected as afore said. If no motion be made
upon such a petition a note of the fact shall be made by the Assi-
stant Secretary on the petition, and it shall be deposited amongs
the records of the Council.
XVIII. If a bill be pending peculiarly affecting private
interestand any person whose interests are so affected apply by
 [ 97 J

petition to be
heard by himself or upon the subject of
his Council
the bill, an order may be made upon the motion of a Member,
at a stated time, provided
allowing the petitioner to be so heard
the petition be received by the Assistant Secretary before the
matter to which the petition relates has been finally disposed of
by the Council.
XIX. In no other case or manner shall any stranger be
heard by himself or his Counsel. If the petitioner or his Counsel
do not appear at such stated time such leave shall lapse.
XX. Any Member may move that the hearing of any petitioner
or of his Counsel shall cease if such petitioner or his Counsel be
unduly prolix or irrelevant.
BILLS.
XXI. Any member may move at a meeting of the Council
for leave to bring in a Bill in accordance with the provisions of
section 38 of the Act, provided that three days' previous notice of
the title and subject of the Bill have been given to the Assistant
Secretary. If the motion be carried in the affirmative, the
member shall send the Bill to the Assistant Secretary with a full
statemnnt of objects and reasons and any other papers which he
may consider necessary.

XXII. The Assistant Secretary will forthwith cause the Bill

with the statement of objects and reasons, to be,
together
printed, and will send a copy for the use of each member.

XXIII. On the day fixed for the introduction of a Bill or

on any subsequent day, the principle of the Bill and its general
provisions may be discussed. If the question be resolved in the
affirmative, the Bill may be referred to a select Committee for
report, and, together with the statement of objects and reasons,
shall be published in the official Gazette,

XXIV. The publication of a Bill may be suspended until it

has been considered by the select Commitee and reported to the
Council, if the Council at the time of referring it to the select
Committee shall so order.

XXV. A Bill may be sent to the Assistant Secretary when

the Council isadjourned, and the Governor may order its publi-
cation together with the statement of objects and reasons which
accompanies it. In that case it shall not be necessary to move for
leave to bring in the Bill, and if the bill be afterwards introduced
it shall not be necessary to publish it again.

XXVI. When such period has elapsed from the publication

of a Bill as the Council may have ordered, the select Committee
shall make a report thereon.
13
 XXVII. Select Committees
may be appointed by the Council
forany purpose connected with the business of the Council, and
may sit and may report on Bills referred for their consideration
although the Council is adjourned.
XXVIII. The Assistant Secretary shall cause all reports of
Select Committees to be printed, and shall send copies of such for
the use of each member. The report and the Bill, or any sections
thereof, if altered, shall at the same time be published in the offi-
cial Gazette.

XXIX. The report of the Select Committee on a Bill shall

be taken into consideration by the Council as soon as conveniently
may be but not until a week after the report has been furnished
;

to the Members.
XXX. Any member wishing to propose an amendment
affecting the principle or substance of a bill as settled by the
Select Committee, shall send the amendment to the Assistant
Secretary at least three days before the meeting of the Council
at which the bill is to be considered. The Assistant Secretary shall
cause every such amendment to be printed, and shall send a copy
for the information of each Member.

XXXL If any amendment be proposed of which notice has

not been given, the President shall decide whether such amend-
ment shall be considered by the Council at the meeting at which
it is proposed or be deferred to the next following meeting.

XXXII. Amendments shall be considered in the order of

the Sections to which they relate.

XXXIII. If no amendment be made by the Council iu a bill

as settled by the Select Committee, the bill may at once be passed,
and sent to the Governor for his assent. If any amendment be
made, the bill shall not be passed at the same meeting, but shall
be brought forward again to a furture meeting, and may then be
passed with or without further amendment.
XXXIV. When it may not be deemed necessary to refer a
bill to a Select Committee under Rule XXIII, a day shall be fixed
for its consideration by the full Council, provided that such period
shall always intervenee between the introduction of a bill and its
consideration by the whole Council as will admit of its being
published for a reasonable length of time.
XXXV. After the passing of a bill, the Assistant Secretary
and complete the marginal notes thereof.
shall revise

XXXVI. Each bill as finally settled by the Council shall be

signed by the Prasident and forwarded immediately to the
Governor for his declaration that he assents to or with holds his
assent from the same.
 [ 09 ]

XXX VII. The Governor shall communicate his assent or

dissent to the Council, by certificate in writing, on the face of the
in the
bill, and the bill with such certificate shall be lodged
records of the Council.
XXXVIII. The Governor shall transmit forthwith an
authentic copy of every law or regulation
(Section 40 of the Act.) to which he shall have declared his assent
to the Governor General ; and no such law
or regulation shall have validity until the Governor-General shall
have assented thereto, and such assent shall have been signified
by him to, and published by, the Governor in the Official Gazette.
XXXIX. The fact of the assent or dissent of the Governor-
General shall be communicated to the Council by the Governor
personally or by letter, and shall be recorded in the Journal of
the Council.
XL. The disallowance of any law or regulation by Her
Majesty shall in like manner be communicated to, and recorded
by, the Council.
XLL It shall not be competent to any Member of the
Council to make any motion upon or otherwise bring under the
consideration of the Council, the exercise by Her Majesty, the
Governor or the Governor-General, of their prerogative of dis-
allowing a bill by withholding their assent from it.
ORDER OF BUSINESS.
XLII. After the President shall have taken the chair, peti-
tions and other communications received by the Assistant Secre-
tary shall be reported, and notices of bills given by members
intending to introduce them The Council shall then proceed to
the disposal of the business left unfinished at the last meeting,
unless otherwise specially determined by the President.

XLIII. Strangers may be admitted into the Council Chamber

during the sittings of the Council on the order of the President.
Application 'for orders of admission is to be made to the Assistant
Secretary.
XLIV. The President, on the motion of any Member, may
direct at any time during a sitting of the Council that strangers
withdraw.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT IN THE

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.
XLV. The duties of the Assistant Secretary to Government
in the Legislative Department shall be
1. To take charge of all the records of the Council.
2, To keep the books of the Council.
 [ 100 ]

3. To keep a minute book, in which he shall enter at

the time all the proceedings of the Council in the
order in which they occur, and the names of the
members present thereat.
4. To Superintend the printing of all the papers
ordered to be printed.
5. To assist the Council in such manner as they may
order, and to assist any member in framing a bill
which he proposes to introduce.
6. To write all letters ordered by the Council to be
written.
XLVI. It shall be the duty of the ssistant Secretary, after the
passing of a revise and complete the marginal notes thereof.
bill, to
BOOKS AND RECORDS.
XLVIL A Journal shall be kept, in which all the proceed-
ings of the Council shall be fairly entered.
Journal of Council. The Journal shall be submitted after each
meeting to the President thereof for his
confirmation and signature and when so signed shall be the record
of the proceedings of the Council. The proceedings of each
meeting of Council shall be published in the next Official Gazette,
after such meeting, or as soon afterwards as can conveniently be
arranged.
XLYIII. All documents ordered to be printed or recorded
shall be referred to in the journal, and,
Documents how recorded,
after being identified by the signature of
the Assistant Secretary on the original
documents, shall be kept with the records.
XLIX. A register shall be kept of all petitions received by
the Council, in which shall be entered the
Begister of petitions <} a te of receipt by the Assistant Secre-
tary, a general designation of the petition-
ers, the object of the petition, the manner in which it has been
disposed of, and the date of disposal.
Register of letters.
L A register and index of all letters
J
received and despatched shall be kept.
LI. The President for sufficient reasons may suspend any of
the foregoing rules.
LI-A. Any respecting which no motion has been made
bill
two years may, by order of the President, be
in the Council for
removed from the list of business. (Passed 23rd November 1882 )
By Order,
(Signed). JOHND. MAYNE,
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT, ") Asst. Secy, to Govt,

MADRAS, 27th February, 1863. ) Legislative Department.

 THE MADRAS LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
The following notification is published in the Gazette of
February 14th.

In exercise of the powers conferred npon him by 55 and 56

Vic., c. 14, section 2 (the Indian Councils Act, 1892), and with
the sanction of the Governor-General in Council, the Governor in
Council has been pleased to make the following rules which ara
now published for general information :-
I PRELIMINARY.
Rule 1. In these rules
" Council " means the Council of the Governor of Madras for
the purpose of making Laws and Regulations.
" President " means the Governor of
Madras^ or, in hia
absence, the Senior Civil Ordinary Member of Council present.
" Member" means a Member of the
Council, whether Ordi-
nary or Additional.
II RULES FOR THB DISCUSSION OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT
IN THE COUNCIL.

Rule 2. The Financial Statement of the Government of

Madras be explained in
shall Council every year, and a printed
copy given to each member.
Rule 3. After the explanation has been made each member
shall be at liberty to offer any observations he may wish to make
on the Statement.
Rule 4. The member who explained the Statement shall have
the right of reply, and the discussion shall be closed by the Presi-
dent making such observations, if any, as he may consider neces-
eary.
Rule 5. The discussion will be limited to those branches of
revenue and expenditure which are under the control of the Local
Government ; and it will not be permissible to enter upon a criti-
cism of Imperial Finance.
Ill RULES FOR ASKING QUESTIONS IN THE COUNCIL.

Rule 6. No question shall be asked or answered in the

Council of the Governor, at a meeting of the Council for the pur-
pose of making laws and regulations, as to any matters or
branches of the administration other than those under the control
 [ 302]
of the Governor in Council ; and, in matters which are or have
been the subject of controversy between the Governor-General in
Council or the Secretary of State and the Local Government, no
question shall be asked except as to matters of fact, and the
answer shall be confined to a statement of facts.
Rule 7. Except as provided, above, any question may be asked
"by any member, subject to the following conditions and res-
trictions.
Rule 8. A
member who wishes to ask a question shall give
at least six clear days' notice in writing to the Secretary of the
Council, submitting in full the question which he wishes to ask.
Rule 9. Questions must be so framed as to be merely requests
for information, and must not be in an argumentative or hypothe-
tical form or defamatory of any person or section of the com-
munity.
Rule 10. The President may disallow any question without
giving any reason therefor other than that in his opinion it
cannot be answered consistently with the public interests, and in
such case the question shall not be entered in the Proceedings of
the Council.
Rule 11. The President may, if he thinks fit, allow a ques-
tion to be asked with shorter notice than six days ; and may in
any case require longer notice if he thinks fit, or extend, if neces-
sary, the time for answering a question.
Rule 12. When
the President has permitted the question to
be asked, it be entered in the Notice Paper for the day, and
shall
questions shall be put in the order in which they stand in the
Notice Paper, before any other business is entered upon at the
meeting.
Rule 13.question shall be read by the member by whom
A
it in his absence, if he so desires, by some other
was framed, or
member in his behalf and the answer shall be given either by the
President or some other member whom he may designate for the
purposes.
Rule 14. The President may rule, at his discretion, that an
answer to a question on the Notice Paper, even though the
question be not put, shall be given on the ground of public
interest.
Rule 15. No discussion shall be permitted in respect of an
answer given to a question asked under these rules.
Rule 16. The question asked and the answer given to it shall
be entered in the Proceedings of the Council,

A. BUTTER WORTH,
Ag. Under-Secy. to Government.
 THE VICEREGAL COUNCIL;
The following notification published in the Gazette of Indict,
dated 24th June, 1893 :

NOTIFICATIONS.
Simla, the 23rd June, 1893.
In exercise of the power conferred by section!, sub-section
4, of the Indian Councils Act, 1892 (55 & 56 Viet., Chap. 14), the
Governor-General in Council has, with the approval of the Secre-
tary of State for India in Council, made the following regulations
for the nomination of Additional Members of the Council of the
Governor-General of India :

I. Of the persons to be nominated additional members of

Council by the Governor-General for his assistance in making
Laws and Regulations not more than six shall be officials.
II. The nominations to five seats shall be made by the
Governor-General on the recommendation of the following bodies
respectively, namely,

A. The non-official Additional Members of the Council of the

Governor of the Presidency of Fort St. George.
B. The non-official Additional Members of the Council of the
Governor of the Presidency of Bombay.

C. The non-official members of the Council of the Lieute*

nant-Governor of the Bengal Division of the Presi-
dency of Fort William in Bengal.
D .The non-official members of the Council of the Lieute-
nant-Go vernor of the North- Western Provinces and
Oudh.
E. The Calcutta Chamber of Commerce.
III.' The Governor-General may at his discretion nominate
persons to such of the remaining seats as shall not be filled by
officials in such a manner as shall
appear to him most suitable
with reference to the legislative business to be brought before the
Council and the due representation of the different classes of the
community.
IV. When a vacancy occurs and is to be filled under Rule
II of these Regulations, the Governor-General shall cause the
proper body to be requested to recommend a person for nomination
by the Governor-General.
 [ 104]

V. Tlie recommendation shall be made

(a)
in the case of the non-official Additional Members or non-
official Members of a Local Council, by a majority of
votes of such members ;

(b) in the case of the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce in the

manner laid down in the rules of the Chamber for
carrying resolutions or recording decisions upon ques-
:

tions of business brought before it.

VI. It shall be a condition in the case of any person to be

recommended by the non-official Additional Members or non-official
Members of a Local Council that he shall be a person ordinarily
resident within the province for which such Council is appointed.

VII. two months after receiving the request of the

If within
Governor-General as provided by Rule IV the body fails to
make a recommendation,, the Governor-General may nominate at
his discretion a person belonging to the province or class which
the body is deemed to represent.

VIII. If the Governor-General shall decline to nominate any

person who has been under these regulations recommended for
nomination, a fresh request shall be issued as provided in Kule IV
and the procedure laid down in Rules V
and VII shall apply.

IX. (a) As soon as conveniently may be after these regulations

come into force five of the seats held by non-official
persons shall be filled up by recommendation under
Rule II.

(b) If there shall not be the full number of five vacancies

available at once for this purpose, the Governor-General
shall determine at his discretion which of the bodies
or groups mentioned in Rule II shall be requested to
recommend the persons to fill up such vacancies as may
then be available, and so whenever and as often as any
further vacancies among non-official members become
available, until the full number of five has been
completed.
LIST OF DISTRICT BOARDS AND MUNICIPAL!-
TIES IN THE PRESIDENCY OP MADRAS.

I. Northern Group.
District Boards. Municipalities t

1. Anantapur .., ... 1. Anantapur.

1. Adoni.
2. Bellary, ...
,..{*; Bellary.

3. Chingleput ... ... 1. Conjeeveram.

4. Cuddapali .,, ... 1. Cuddapah.

f 1 .
Berliampore.
5. Ganjam ... ...s2. Chicacole.
(. 3. Parlikamidi.

/ 1. Ellore.
6. Godavery ... ,.. ) 2. Cocanada.
(^3. Kajahniundry.

f 1..
1 Bezwadi
Bezwada.
7. Kistna ... .' ...i2i Guntur.
(.3. Masulip
Masulipatam,

8. Kurnool .., ^., 1. Kurnool.

n Xr 71 f 1. Nellore.
9- :N(illoro
1.2. Ongole.

Gudiyatumi,
Cl,
, 2. Tirupati.
10, North Arcot ,
<^ Yellore.
^4. Walajapet.

Tl. Anakapalleo.
\ 2. Bimlipatam.
11. Vizagapatam 3 yizagapatam.
j
(.4. Yizianagaram,

Total,,, 11, Total ,., 25,

 II. Southern Group

District Boards. Municipalities.

f 1 . Coimba
Coimbatore.
L Coimbatore ...-J2. Erode.
(.3. Karur.

1. Madura,
2. Palm.
2. Madura ...
3. Periyakulam.
4. Dindigul.

fl. Calicut.
|
2. Caunanore.
3. Malabar -J
3. Cochin.
|
4. Palaghat.
|^5. Tellicherry.

1. Coonoor.
4. "" j
Nilgiria Ootacamund.
(2.

. Salem.
5. Salem. ,., !.
Tirupatur.
t. Vanivambadi.

1. Chidambaram.
6. South Arcot
li Cuddalore.

7. South Canara 1. Man galore.

1 . Xumbakonam.
2. Mannargudi.
8. Tan j ore ... 3. May aver am.
4. Negapatani,
5. Taujor.
1 . Palamcottah.
9. Tinnevelly ...ft Tinnevelly.
1 3. Tuticorin.

1. Srirangam.
10. Trichinopoly 2.
Trichinopoly.

Total., ,10. Total ,,, 30.

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY