Indian Society. 179 



of which, I argued, would be glad to take my paper. We 

 accordingly went to Calcutta, via Hong Kong (where I 

 held a large class), Singapore and Penang. Within a 

 couple of months after we had returned from Japan to 

 India, our venture, under the title of Hayes 1 Sporting News, 

 was launched. We burned our metaphorical ships, and 

 entered on our literary campaign with high hopes and a 

 firm resolve to make our paper a success. With the help 

 of a strong outside staff, consisting of Skrene of the Bengal 

 Civil Service, Lloyd of the Opium Department, Beatty of 

 the Bombay Police, Shipley of the Madras Civil Service, 

 * The Dwarf of Blood/ and many other brilliant and able 

 writers, our Sporting News won support and favour from 

 readers all over India. Like thorough Bohemians who would 

 eat no dirt, and who would not bow the knee to brass gods, 

 we took our own line and published that what we thought 

 right. I may explain that Indian society is governed on 

 bureaucratic principles. First comes the army, the subal- 

 terns of which stand in awe of their captains ; the captains, 

 of their senior majors ; the senior majors, of their colonels ; 

 the colonels, of their generals ; the generals, of their com- 

 mander-in-chief ; the commander-in-chief, of the viceroy; 

 the viceroy, of the home authorities, who continue the chain 

 of responsibility up to King Demos. The Indian Civil " 

 Service and all the various ' non-covented ' departments are 

 ruled by a similar fear. The non-official element may be 

 divided into the mercantile community and planters. As 

 the only social recognition (in India) to non-officials who 

 do not hold titles in their own right, is the entree to Govern- 

 ment House, those traders who can obtain the much-coveted 

 invitation are, as a rule, anxious to avoid giving offence to 

 the military secretary or other bigwig who, at a stroke of 

 his pen, can convert Mr Plantagenet-Smith, in the eyes of 

 the local society, from a gentleman into a cad, and, worse 

 still, can thus degrade Mrs Plantagenet. The test of re- 

 spectability consists in the manner in which the trader sells 



