BURMA.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Report on the Bribery and Corruption Enquiry Committee, 1940. First edition in English, one of 1,000 copies only. The committee was led by Bernard Winthrop Swithinbank, who entered the Indian Civil Service in 1909 and served as the commissioner of Pegu Division from 1933 to 1942.His report found widespread corruption in the lower ranks of Burmese officialdom and public services and recommended significant reforms. The British authorities prioritized the publication of a Burmese translation (printed in 1940) in an effort to assuage increasing popular discontent. It was widely believed that the publicly available text omitted Swithinbank's graver concerns about some high-ranking members of the colonial administration.

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