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given him the officiating post. But I had inaugurated a new depar- ture, and I was not prepared to go back upon it. The exigencies of my policy demanded that I should follow it up. I accordingly ap- pointed, with the approval of the Governor, an elected commissioner (Rai Haridhan Dutt Bahadur) who had over twenty years' ex- perience of municipal work, as Mr. Mullick's successor. There was some little opposition, but my view prevailed.

It is worthy of mention, that as a member of the Legislative Council, Rai Haridhan Dutt Bahadur was often opposed to the Government. This was true, perhaps even in a more emphatic sense, of Mr. Surendranath Mullick. But I never allowed opposition, if honest, to stand in the way of Government's choice to high office, if the person selected was otherwise qualified by character and ability. Such selections were evidence of the solicitude of Govern- ment to utilize the services of the ablest and the most qualified. They were bound to have a healthy moral effect even upon those critics of Government who saw nothing good in the Reforms.

I made no secret of my policy to Indianize the departments under my control, but with absolute fairness to vested interests and with- out any detriment to the public service. I applied it to the Corpor- ation, with the full concurrence of the Government as a whole, and the same policy was extended to the Medical Department, where its application was not altogether free from difficulties. At the time when I took charge of the Medical Department, there was an outstanding question of some importance. The Secretary of State (Mr. Montagu) wanted to know the Minister's views with regard to the numerical strength of the cadre of the Indian Medical Service on the Bengal establishment. I wired to say that there should be no expansion of the number employed or of the reserved posts in Bengal, and that I would examine the matter and submit a detailed statement of my views later on. I consulted the Surgeon- General, the late Major-General Robinson and one or two friends, and drew up a scheme, which I laid before my Standing Committee for consideration and an expression of their opinion.

The Standing Committee are an advisory body who, according to the convention that has grown up, are consulted by members of the Government in matters within their scope and jurisdiction. The Member or Minister is not bound by their views, though undoub- tedly, being his constitutional advisers, he must treat such advice with deference. His obligation in this respect is moral rather than legal. The Standing Committees play a useful part in the Reform