TO THE COURT OF AYA. 
271 
difficulty can, I conceive, be anticipated, except in 
respect to the Native inhabitants. These have 
been immemorially accustomed to pay their con¬ 
tributions through their chiefs, whose corruption 
is notorious, and who commonly extorted far more 
than they ever paid into the public treasury. I 
shall recur to this subject hereafter, and in the 
mean while, shall only state that my views on this 
subject have for their object to make the chiefs of 
villages and districts elective by the householders 
and cultivators, or those paying contributions. In 
this case they may safely be made collectors of 
the land revenue, the Government paying to them 
a commission on the amount collected. On this 
plan, it may be expected that the remuneration 
given will secure the faithful services of the chiefs 
to the Government, while their responsibility to 
the cultivators will protect the latter from that 
extortion and abuse of authority which are the 
radical vices of the Burmese Government. 5 ’ 
