in arrears[1]. It was not easy to augment the number of English judges, for the cost of maintaining Europeans who were not indigenous to the country was prohibitory to any such arrangement. Natives had certainly been invested with judicial powers ever since 1793, but as they were badly paid and kept in an unduly subordinate position, they lost their self-respect and became too often inefficient and corrupt. To correct this state of things, the Board of Control proposed that the old native institutions should be revived by restoring the functions of the village head-men and local arbitrators, called Panchayats.
The Government of Bengal found the proposal impracticable, for these institutions had been partially destroyed by the revenue settlements that had been made in the Presidency; a remedy therefore was sought in another direction, viz. by improving the pay and position of the native judges, by enlarging their powers, by subjecting them to more efficient supervision, and by adding to their number. The instructions from home were however carried out in Madras, where the village organization was in better state of preservation; but the result was curious, for the people preferred the native and English tribunals and deserted those provided for them in their own communities. In Bombay, however, where no other
- ↑ In 1810 there were 135,553 cases pending, but in 1815 the number decreased to 108,286, making nevertheless a formidable list of arrears; Wilson, viii. 509. See, moreover, p. 508, &c. of this volume, from which the greater part of this chapter has been taken.
