30 Mr. Mayne on the Administration oj Native Law 



cially if those Natives who are members of the respective 

 Legislative Councils, would come forward boldly and advo- 

 cate those reforms which their altered social state renders 

 necessary, they would confer incalculable benefits upon In- 

 dia. A measure for extending the power of Natives to 

 make wills and to dispose of their self-acquired property has 

 been introduced into the Madras Council by the Hon. V. 

 Sadagopacharlu, and is a step in the right direction. A 

 few more such measures would go far to release the Natives 

 of India from the shackles with which an antiquated law 

 has entangled them. 



The third rule which I have suggested, viz., that Natives 

 should be allowed to adopt the legal status of their conquerors, 

 is one wholly unknown to our present system, yet its 

 advantages are obvious and it is difficult to see what objec- 

 tions can be urged against it. Upon merely political grounds 

 it is plain, that an identity of law would be one of the 

 strongest bonds of union between the two races, and would 

 go far to prepare the way for an identity of religion. On 

 social grounds it is also plain, that our system of law, which 

 is framed so as to give the greatest possible liberty to the 

 individual, which removes all restrictions upon the transfer 

 of property, which furnishes to every man the strongest pos- 

 sible motives for growing rich, while it supplies him with 

 every facility for doing so, must be much better adopted to 

 the wants of modern society than the Hindu law, whose 

 essence is a scheme of communistic bondage. It is also 

 plain, that although we have undertaken not to force our 

 laws upon our subjects, there can be no reason why we 

 should not allow them to adopt those laws if they choose to 

 do so. If they do not avail themselves of the permission, 

 at all events no harm would be done. But if they do, and 

 to the exact extent that they do, there would be an imme- 

 diate benefit. 



