A Civil Servant in BurmaWhite, Herbert Thirkell, Sir
History
A Civil Servant in Burma
White, Herbert Thirkell, Sir
Burma
Raikes, C.I.E., General
Sir W. Penn Symons, Mr. B. S. Carey, C.I.E., Mr. D. Ross, Mr. D. J. C.
Macnabb,[213] Captain F. M. Rundall,[214] Mr. E. O. Fowler, and Mr. H.
N. Tuck. Here, too, Captain Le Quesne[215] won the Victoria Cross by
gallantly tending a wounded officer under fire from a stockade. The
Kachin Hills and the State of Wuntho alone remained for settlement in
later years.
No detailed story of the restoration of order in Lower Burma has
yet been given to the world; nor does it lie within the scheme of
these personal reminiscences to supply the omission. The outbreak of
disturbance at the end of 1885 has already been mentioned. For years
crime continued to be rampant. A few figures may be given. In 1886 the
number of dacoities was 2,183; in 1887, 1,387; in 1888, 695; in 1889,
332; in 1890, 181. Serious risings there were: one in Tavoy in 1888,
quelled by Colonel Adamson and Mr. Twomey; one in Sandaway, sternly
repressed by Mr. Bernard Houghton, who at the outset nearly fell a
victim to the insurgents. But in the period now under reference it was
not so much a question of dealing, as in Upper Burma, with organized
resistance on a large scale as of suppressing countless small, isolated
gangs. The strict enforcement of the Village Act, framed on the lines
indicated above, and vigorous disarmament carried out in the face of
ignorant and factious criticism, were among the most efficient means
of restoring peace. The plan of placing a defined area in charge
of a specially selected officer invested with large powers for the
suppression of crime was tried with excellent effect. Pyuntazá, in
Shwegyin, was reduced to order by Mr. Todd-Naylor, to whom the Chief
Commissioner gave a free hand with abundant support. Boldest, most
strenuous, most untiring of men, traversing vast distances with
incredible speed on the scantiest fare, facing every danger and
enduring every hardship, there, and soon afterwards in Tharrawaddy, Mr.
Todd-Naylor earned great and well-merited renown. For the first, and so
far the only, time in its history, Tharrawaddy was at rest. In every
district solid work was done, and by degrees normal conditions were
established.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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