1 190 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 its affairs, of such men as Henry Lawrence, John
3 Nicholson, and Herbert Edwardes. The first measure
4 to which the Resident gave his attention was the
5 reduction of the army, a matter requiring very
6 delicate handling. It was, however, by a judicious
7 combination of tact, patience, and firmness, successfully
8 accomplished. The disbanded regiments received the
9 arrears of pay due to them, and everything was done
10 to induce the men either to join the British service
11 or to return to peaceful occupations. The recon-
12 struction, or rather the building anew, of the
13 machinery of government was then vigorously taken
14 in hand. A penal code adapted to the customs and
15 traditions of the country was drawn up, lands were
16 surveyed, rates and assessments were made less
17 burdensome, many obnoxious taxes were abolished,
18 and the collectors of revenue were deprived of their
19 facilities for robbing either the cultivators or the
20 state.
21 But though the population of the Punjab as a
22 whole began rapidly to appreciate the advantages of
23 living under an orderly and just administration, the
24 Sikhs themselves welcomed the new order of
25 things with anything but enthusiasm. They felt that
26 their position as the ruling community was being
27 undermined. British methods of government might
28 be superior to their own, but they did not want
29 British methods, and the more popular these became
30 the deeper grew their jealousy and resentment.
31 Moreover, the Hindu and Muhammadan com-
32 munities derived greater benefit than they did from
33 the reforms that were being instituted. Many of