The objects which I regarded as most important, and which, to the best of my ability, I pursued, were the encouragement of efficiency in the Services, insistence on the principle of selection to which the Government of India often drew attention, and the improvement of the position and prospects of officers of various departments, particularly but not exclusively, those manned by people of the country. I had the pleasure of making the first appointment of a Burman as a District Judge, my old friend Maung Aung Zan,[266] K.S.M., being the officer selected. Two posts of Deputy Commissioner were obtained for the Provincial Service, the first Burman to hold that office being Maung Myat Tun Aung, C.I.E., K.S.M., T.D.M. Later I appointed the first two Burman Superintendents of Police, Maung Tun Min,[267] T.D.M., and Maung Shwe Tha,[267] I.S.O., K.S.M., A.T.M. These appointments enabled us to solve a long-standing problem, the officering of Kyauk-pyu. This district was notoriously unhealthy for any but natives of the locality, so that it was difficult to keep European officers there for any length of time. With one Arakanese as Deputy Commissioner and another as Superintendent of Police, both accustomed to the climate, it was possible to have the district efficiently administered without sacrificing anyone’s health. For some time Kyauk-pyu was administered solely by native officers. The experiment seems to have been successful; both the Deputy Commissioner and the Police Superintendent having recently been decorated. I take the opportunity of reminding my Burmese friends, who justly cite me as desirous of seeing them placed in higher offices, that one essential condition is that by character and ability they should prove their fitness for advancement. I am the last man in the world to wish Burmans promoted merely because they are Burmans, without regard to their qualifications. “After these things do the Gentiles seek.” A successful effort was made to equalize the pay and prospects of the higher ranks of the Judicial Service, so as to attract men of at least average ability and ambition to that branch. The Provincial Judicial Service was organized on a proper basis, so that officers who chose or were posted to it might receive the same pay as those on the Executive side. The important Land Records Department was reorganized and placed on a proper basis as regards pay, and a system of recruitment and training was devised. To my lot, assisted by Colonel S. C. F. Peile, C.I.E., the experienced Inspector-General, fell the task of introducing most of the changes following the Report of the Police Commission. In this matter I think we might have been allowed more liberty to consult local conditions. After all, the Report was not verbally inspired.