Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 3.djvu/104

 always taken the lead. He also compiled an outline of history to assist school teachers in giving their lessons. In 1872 the finances of the city of Bombay became embarrassed, and Peile was sent to settle them, acting as municipal commissioner. Subsequently he undertook for a short period the political charge of Kathiawar, to which he returned again in 1874, holding it until 1878. As political agent of Kathiawar Peile greatly added to his reputation. This important agency covered 23,000 square miles, the territorial sovereignty being divided among the Gaekwar of Baroda and 193 other chiefs, all equally jealous of their attributes of internal sovereignty. Peile found the province in disorder and its chiefs discontented, and he left it tranquil and grateful. In 1873 Waghirs and other outlaws terrorised the chiefs and oppressed their subjects. Capt. Herbert and La Touche had been murdered, and one morning as Peile reached his tent the famous leader Harising Ragji, who was under trial for seven murders and had just escaped from prison, appeared before him. Peile, who was alone, refused to guarantee to him more than justice, and the fugitive was rearrested, tried, and convicted. Gradually the chiefs were persuaded to co-operate in maintaining order, and a police force was organised. While the British officer asserted the rights of the paramount power, he did not ignore the rights of the chiefs, whose claims to revenue from salt and opium he vigorously asserted against the government of Bombay in later years, and he encouraged the chiefs to send their karbharis or ministers in order to discuss with him and each other their common interests. He lent Chester Macnaghten his powerful support and encouragement in establishing an efficient college at Rajkote for the sons and relatives of the ruling chiefs. Able to take up the records of a tangled suit or case and read them in the vernacular, he defeated intrigue and corruption, for which the public offices had gained a bad name, by mastering details and facts without the aid of a native clerk. By such means he won the confidence of the chiefs, and secured their active assistance. The Peile bridge, opened on 17 June 1877, over the Bhadar in Jetpur, and the consent won from the ruler of Bhavnagar in 1878 to the construction of a railway, are standing records of a policy of united effort which to-day covers the province with roads and railways. In 1877 the shadow of famine lay over the province, and Peile sought help from Sir Richard Temple [q. v. Suppl. II], who told him plainly that he 'could not spare a single rupee.' Peile's answer, 'I know then where I stand,' impressed Temple. He at once proceeded to organise self-help by local co-operation, and averted a grave catastrophe. Peile was a member of the famine commission (1878-80), and Temple in giving evidence before it declared that 'the condition of Kathiawar was a credit to British rule.' Peile spent a few months in Sind in 1878, but declined an offer of the commissionership there. From 1879 to 1882 he was secretary and acting chief secretary to the Bombay government. During 1879 he accompanied the famine commission on its tour of inquiry, receiving in the course of it the honour of C.S.I. In October he proceeded to London to assist in writing the famous famine report remarkable 'for its detailed knowledge of varying conditions and grasp of general principles' ('s Despatch, No. 4, dated 14 March 1881). On his return to Bombay he was sent to Baroda to clear off appeals against the government of Baroda in respect of Girassia claims. He had hardly rejoined the secretariat when the governor -general recalled him to Simla to take part in a conference regarding the rights of certain Kathiawar states to manufacture salt. On 23 Dec. 1882 he became member of council at Bombay, and to him Lord Ripon [q. v. Suppl. II] looked with confidence to give effect to his self-government policy. Peile matured and carried through such important measures as the legislative councils Bombay Acts I and II, 1884, Local Boards, and District Municipalities Acts. These Acts did not go as far as Lord Ripon hoped in the ehmination of official guidance from municipal and local board committees; but Peile knew that it was unsafe to go further, and the viceroy cordially acknowledged his services. In 1886 he carried an amendment of the Bombay Land Revenue Code, securing to the peasantry the benefit of agricultural improvements. His experience in educational matters was of great service. He had become vice-chancellor of the university in 1884, and in 1886 he dealt with technical education in his convocation address. In 1886 Peile left the Bombay council on his appointment by Lord Dufferin, Lord Ripon's successor on the supreme council. From 4 Oct. 1886 to 8 Oct. 1887, with a few days' interval, Peile served as a member of the supreme government. His presence greatly assisted the