WORK OF THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL 223 
illegal gratifications are penal, because such are 
rightly held to affect the impersonal service required 
by the State and the justice of its decisions; we 
expect an official to refrain from commerce, from 
speculation, from anything that may divert his 
attention from public to private interests; we make 
this a condition of his service, and punish, not only 
any breach of his contract, but also those who are 
accessory thereto. Under native rule the case was 
widely different; then salaries were often held to 
be the least part of the emoluments, and, indeed, 
appointments to onerous and responsible posts were 
often purchased, and it is but fifty years since the 
H.E.LC. both ruled the country and exploited it to 
its. own advantage. The time-honoured system of 
the past has to give way to the sterner morality of 
the present day, yet an Indian (not a Government 
official, who by accepting office has contracted not to 
increase his income by forbidden methods) sees no 
degradation, no dishonour, in adhering to an ancient 
custom, even though he may recognize the theoretical 
superiority of the new régime; and where this 
régime is not in force he continues the customs of 
his forefathers. 
Thus, stepping across the boundaries of a native 
State, I once found a venerable officer who lived in a 
style suitable to his position, and moved amongst 
the people with the usual outward signs of authority. 
I was informed that his salary was 15s. a month, 
and he had recently been fined £125, or, say, fourteen 
years’ pay, perhaps because his master considered 
that he could afford to contribute something to the 
privy purse. There is no doubt that this man was 
honest according to the moral code of his country 
