ROYAL COMMISSION UPON DECENTRALIZATION.

49

43507. Ordinarily speaking, the royalty which can
be charged in respect of each mineral is the same ?—
No, the royalties differ.
43508. Is there a uniform rate for India ?—There
is a uniform rate for India, but it is not uniformly
applied.
43509. Is the variation of importance ?—Yes. A
case has occurred in Bombay where they had been
charging 1J annas per ton royalty on manganese ore,
when they ought to have been charging at least
10 annas at a time when manganese was as high as
sixteen-pence per unit. They have wasted a large
amount of revenue there owing to the fact that they
did not appreciate the high rise in the price of the ore.
43510. Does that emphasise your opinion for the
necessity of an expert on the spot ?—That strengthens
my argument. It has been more than 12 months
since the same question was raised in the Central
Provinces, and, so far as I know, orders have not been
passed yet ; meanwhile the price of manganese has
gone down, and there is no present occasion for any
further discussion on the subject.
43511. Would the Local Government be more
ready to consult an expert if he was their own'officer
than they are now because he is an officer of the

Government of India ?—The Local Government in
that case consulted me promptly ; the then Chief
Commissioner of the Central Provinces wrote to me
himself about it in 1906.
43512. Then where did the delay arise ?—In the
Central Provinces. After receiving my recommenda-
tions the Chief Commissioner consulted the District
Officers, the Commissioner, and the Deputy Commis-
sioner, who had to send their reports backwards and
forwards. Finally, a conference was held ; the result
of that conference went to the Commissioner, from
him to the Chief Commissioner, who consulted about
it in August 1907 ; what the result has been I do not
know yet, but all the delay was due to the fact that
they had not an expert officer who could take action
on the spot.
43513. Is the mining revenue shared between the
Government of India and the provinces ?—I under-
stand that the whole of the revenue is absorbed by
the province within which it is collected ; of course,
the contribution due to imperial revenues is deter-
mined by the provincial financial settlement.
(The witness withdrew.)
Adjourned.

THIRTY-EIGHTH DAY.

Calcutta, Monday, 3rd February, 1908.

PRESENT :

C. E. H. Hobhouse, Esq., M.P., Under-Secretary of State for India, Chairman.
Sir Frederic Lely, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. | W. S. Meyer, Esq., C.I.E., I.C.S.
Sir Steyning Edgerley, K.C.V.O., C.I.E., I.C.S. W. L. Hichens, Esq.
R. C. Dutt, Esq., C.I.E.

Mr. E. Giles was called and examined.

43514. (Chairman.) You are acting as Director-
General of Education ?—Yes.
In addressing the Secretary of State in their letter
No. 313 of 3rd October 1901, the Government of
India explained the position and duties of the Director-
General in the following terms :—
“ We do not fear that the creation of such an office
will involve any sacrifice of the elasticity necessary to
provide for the peculiar features of each province;
since if its incumbent be a man of the type whom we
desire, he cannot fail to realise that centralization
would be the most certain means of thwarting his own
efforts and of preventing improvement. We think
that by means of visits to the different Local Govern-
ments and by occasional conferences with the Directors
of Public Instruction in the different provinces, it will
be in his power to establish a better understanding on
educational matters between ourselves and the Local
Governments and Administrations, whose views we
have sometimes failed to appreciate because of our
insufficient acquaintance with local needs.”
The first incumbent of the post, Mr. H. W. Orange,
C.I.E., was appointed in January 1902. I have
officiated in the appointment since March 1907.
Among the direct results of the creation of the
office of Director-General have been :—the organiza-
tion of a Bureau of Education ; the publication of
occasional educational reports ; the appointment of
an English correspondent ; and a conference of
Directors of Public Instruction held in Simla in
September 1905.
In March 1903 the Secretary of State sanctioned
the creation of a Bureau of Education attached to the
office of the Director-General. The object of the
Bureau, it was stated, “ would be to collect infor-
mation' as to the organization of schools in India,
their curricula and the methods of teaching practised
33383

in them ; and to collect and classify similar informa-
tion regarding schools in other countries with refer-
ence to those points which, due allowance being made
for the difference of conditions, are likely to throw
light upon the problems of Indian educational
administration. Such information would be intended
primarily for the assistance of the Government of
India in deciding practical questions of policy upon
which they desire to be advised, and an endeavour
would also be made to render it useful to the Local
Governments and their officers.” Besides collecting
and supplying information for the Director-General,
the Bureau has been made use of to some extent by
the Local Governments and other authorities.
In 1903 the Director-General proposed, and the
Government of India approved, a scheme for the
publication of occasional volumes of special reports
dealing with educational problems as they affect
India.
In 1903 the Secretary of State approved the sugges-
tion of an education correspondent in England, and
appointed Dr. Heath the Director of Special Inquiries
and Reports, Board of Education. The following
extract is taken from the Board of Education report
for the year 1904-05 :—
“ The Government of India in connection with the
reorganization of their system of education requested
the Board, through the India Office, to nominate one
of their officers to whom they would be willing to
entrust the duty of acting as education correspondent
to the Indian Government. Their wish was that the
officer in question should supply them with periodical
reports upon various aspects of educational activity
in this country and abroad or in the Colonies, which
might be of service in dealing with the problems that
are presenting themselves for solution in India. The
Board were very glad to accede to the proposal of
G

Dr. T. H
Holland.
1 Feb., 1908.

Mr. E. Giles.
3 Feb., 1908.