In  defence  of  the  existing  system  the  following
arguments  and  considerations  may  be  urged,  and
no  change  should  be  made  unless  they  can  be
overruled. It  has  not  been  proposed  to  alter  the
established  system  of  the  general  administration
of  India. Under  that  system  there  must  be  a
general  representative  of  the  Executive  Govern-
ment in  each  District,  to  maintain  peace  and
order,  and  to  carry  out  the  orders  and  measures
of  the  Executive  Government. For  this  purpose
the  District  Officer,  as  that  representative,  must
be  furnished  with  adequate  powers,  and  be
capable  of  enforcing  his  orders  under  the  existing
laws. The  concentration  of  power  in  one  officer
responsible  for  the  management  of  the  District  is
the  Indian  rather  than  the  English  idea,  and  it  is
essential  that  the  District  Officer  should  possess
powers  of  all  sorts,  for  it  is  always  possible  that
he  may  in  some  emergency  or  special  business
require  them,  although  he  may  not  have  to  be
using  them  all  constantly. The  tendency  of
administrative  progress  in  India  is  to  remove
special  Departments  from  the  District  Officer's
control,  because  he  cannot  have  time  for  every-
thing, or  be  a  specialist  or  expert  in  all  Depart-


256          A  STRONG  EXECUTIVE

ments. In  all  matters  affecting  his  District,
even  those  of  the  special  Departments  (such  as
Railways,  Telegraphs,  etc.),  his  opinion  must
carry  weight ;  but  to  enable  him  to  perform  his
main  duties  as  District  Officer — viz.,  the  preserva-
tion of  the  peace  and  the  collection  of  the
Revenue — he  must  be  vested  with  sufficient
powers  under  the  law. It  was  Sir  Fitz-James
Stephen  who  well  said :  *  The  exercise  of  criminal
jurisdiction  is,  both  in  theory  and  in  fact,  the
most  distinctive  and  most  easily  and  generally
recognized  work  of  sovereign  power. All  the
world  over  the  man  who  can  punish  is  the
ruler.'

But  the  law  which  gives  the  District  Officers
the  needful  powers  at  the  same  time  limits  those
powers,  so  that  they  cannot  be  exercised  unjustly;
and  it  is  for  the  High  Courts  and  the  Govern-
ment to  see  that  those  legal  powers  are  not
abused  or  exceeded. 