Ixxiv 



believed, or will be garbled, and an unfavourable report upon tbem 

 returned to the Collector ; above all perhaps, the conviction that he 

 who seeks redress at the hands of the European is thenceforth a marked 

 man amongst the native officials ; that his whole future peace and 

 safety are jeopardized by this attempt, and that every means of 

 annoyance and of oppression, even to false accusations of felony, will 

 be brought into play against him, until his own ruin and that of his 

 family are sooner or later consummated ; some or all of these circum- 

 stances unite in every case, in more or less forcible combination to 

 render redress not only difficult, but in many instances almost impossi- 

 ble ; at the same time it is to be remarked that the authority of the 

 Tahsildar must be supported by his European superiors against the 

 numerous false charges which are unsparingly preferred by the intrigu- 

 ing ryots. 



» » • » - 



The character of the Native Police has been drawn by more than 

 one writer in the reports furnished to Government. 



Mr. Mackenzie writes as follows : — " I have no hesitation in stating 

 that the so-called Police of the mofussil is little better than delusion. 

 It is a terror to well disposed and peaceable people, none whatever 

 to thieves and rogues, and that if it was abolished in toto the saving of 

 expense to Government would be great, and property would be not a 

 whit less secure than it now is." 



Mr. Saalfelt says : — " The Police establishment has become the 

 bane and pest of society, the terror of the community, and the origin 

 of half the misery and discontent that exist among the subjects of 

 Government. Corruption and bribery reign paramount throughout 

 the whole establishment ; violence, torture and cruelty are their chief 

 instruments for detecting crime, implicating innocence or extorting 

 money. Robberies are daily and nightly committed, and not unfre- 

 quently with their connivance. Certain suspicious characters are taken 

 up and conveyed to some secluded spot far out of the reach of 

 witnesses ; every species of cruelty is exercised upon them ; if guilty, 

 the crime is invariably confessed and stolen property discovered ; but a 

 tempting bribe soon releases them from custody. Should they persist 

 in avowing their innocence, relief from suffering is promised by 

 criminating some wealthy individual, and in the agony of despair he is 

 pointed to as the receiver of stolen goods. In his turn he is compelled 

 to part with his hard earned coin to avert the impending danger. 

 Even the party robbed does not escape the clutching grasp of the 

 heartless peon and duffadar ; he is threatened with being torn from his 

 home, dragged to the cutcherry and detained there for days or weeks 

 to the actual detriment of his trade or livelihood, unless he point out 

 the supposed thieves. The dread of, or aversion to, the cutcherry is so 

 great that the owner would sooner disavow the stolen article and dis- 

 claim all knowledge of the property, though his name be found written 

 upon it in broad characters ; while such is the actual state of things, 

 and while the people entertain such a lively horror of the Police, it is 

 not possible to expect a single victim of torture to come forward and 

 arraign his tormentors ; or to bring the charge home to any one of 

 them after the deed has been perpetrated in some ruined fort or deep 

 ravine situated miles away from the town or village." 



