Circular N. 4291 of the Territorial Department Revenue from the Officiating Secretary to the Government at Bombay Castle, Charles Edward Fraser Tytler, to the Resident in the Persian Gulf [‎32r] (9/24)

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3. *1 am not prepared to recommend the adoption of the system proposed in the 8th
paragraph of Mr. Goldfinch's letter, neither does it appear very clear what is the mean-
ino- intended to be conveyed in that paragraph by the words " will be promoted to the
higher offices as they become vacant." If it is intended that all persons who have passed
the second examination are by seniority to rise to the situation of Mahalkurry or Mam-
lutdar, I do not think that the plan will work well; as a person may be a very good
Karkoon or Accountant, or in fact qualified to hold any subordinate appointment, and
yet at the same time he may not possess sufficient firmness or confidence in himself to
enable him to conduct the duties of head of a department, such for instance as Mam-
lutdar. Police Amuldar, or even Mahalkurry. Again, a man may be very clever, and
pass a first-rate examination, and yet not be fit for a high situation, in consequence of
his being dishonest or indolent.
(Signed) R. SPOONER,
Collector.
Ahnednugyur, Collector's Camp at Slngwa Tookaee, 21th February 1851.
No. 205 of 1851.
The Collector of Sholapore does not concur in the observations of Mr. Goldfinch, and
for himself and office denies the imputation that favouritism, or a blind reliance on the
advice and opinion of any European or Native subordinate, regulates promotion among
the inferior grades of Karkoons. There is no reason why a Collector or Assistant should
not make himself acquainted with the qualifications of every individual on his establish
ment. To do so is one of his first duties, for without a knowledge of the material at his
disposal, an effective administration at his hands is impossible. A Collector or Assistant
who does not exercise his own discretion and judgment, and does not exhibit the purest
motives in dispensing the little patronage at his disposal, is unfit for the trust reposed in
him, and ought to be removed. The Collector's experience has not yet shown him the
" no uncommon sight of the old gray-headed man who from lack of friends has been
from his youth in the service holding a ten or twelve rupee place in a Mamlutdar's
Cutcherry." He therefore considers Mr. Goldfinch's picture overdrawn. Neither does
the Collector's experience bear out Mr. Goldfinch's assertion of the " almost universal
opinion that obtains among the Native establishment, that their success or failure depends
upon the favour of some Native official." The numerous applications for appoint
ments, personal as well as written, which the Collector has received, and still receives,
lead him to the conclusion, that where access to the European functionary is at all times
easy, the intermediate assistance of Native friends is not even thought of.
2. Mr. Goldfinch proposes by his Rules to do away with the uncertainty of promo
tion, and thereby to raise the comparatively low standard of honesty among the lower
grades. The Collector believes that not the slightest uncertainty of promotion exists
where real merit is to be found, and that the standard of honesty depends upon moral
culture much more than upon the remedy which is designed to rectify its alleged low state.
3. In regard to the Rules themselves, there is nothing in them which at present a
Collector is not at liberty of himself to carry out. When in Belgaum, the Collector
of Sholapore, at the annual examination of candidates for employment, invited all
Karkoons ambitious of preferment to exhibit their qualifications, and rendered the
ordeal of an examination imperative upon all whom he considered unfits.