I was stationed nearly twenty years ago at a district head-quarters in Burma where there was a battalion of Military Police recruited in Upper India. There was also a young Mohammedan civilian who had passed into the Civil Service in London and been posted to Burma. He was an excellent fellow in his way. It happened one morning that I rode down to the Battalion Commandant's house to see him on some matter. We discussed our business, and after it was finished the Subadar of the battalion, a great soldierly Sikh, came in. He and the Commandant talked for a while, and when he was leaving E. said: "By the by, Subadar Sahib, we are coming up this evening to the range to do a little firing. Send up the marker and four rifles." "_Four_ rifles?" queried the Subadar. E. nodded. "For whom?" "For the four Sahibs," said E. The Subadar counted. "The Deputy Sahib, Huzoor (E.), Hall Sahib, and who else?' "Oh," said he, "Mahommed V. Sahib," naming the Indian civilian. The Subadar turned away with a gesture of scorn. "A sahib? he?" he growled. Now suppose this Indian civilian had grown up into charge of a district and had to direct or go with these men into action? What would happen? But it may be said that matters could be so arranged that civilians who were Indians were not posted to troublesome or frontier districts, or that they were given judicial and not executive appointments. They make, it is said, good judges. Why keep them out of duties they do well? But have those who advocate this ever considered what it would mean? It would be the creation of a class within a class. The civilian who was an Indian would be differentiated from the English civilians; he would be ear-marked as "not for executive duties." Is that a possibility, and if it were, would not this differentiation be worse than entirely excluding them? The _corps d'élite_ would still remain English and the grievance be where it is. Let us look facts in the face. The Civil Service of India is a peculiarly English service; it is efficient exactly in so far as it is English; when Indians enter it they must be inefficient more or less. Not only are they not good for the service, but the service is not good for them. They would be better and happier out of it, and they feel that themselves. They have gained their ambition and regret it all their lives. I have known several Indians who were civilians and all were unhappy. One was very much so. This is his story. It all happened a long time ago now, not in Burma, and I do not think any susceptibilities can be hurt by recalling it.