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diff --git a/41819-0.txt b/41819-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..65ea185 --- /dev/null +++ b/41819-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8421 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41819 *** + +Note: Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://archive.org/details/politicalfutureo00lajpuoft + + + + + +THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA + + * * * * * + +_OTHER BOOKS BY LAJPAT RAI_ + + YOUNG INDIA + + _An Interpretation and a History of the Nationalist Movement + from Within_ + Price $1.50 net + + ENGLAND'S DEBT TO INDIA + + _A Historical Narrative of Britain's Fiscal Policy in India_ + Price $2.00 net + + AN OPEN LETTER TO LLOYD GEORGE + + Price 25 cents net + + THE ARYA SAMAJ + + _An Account of its Origins, Doctrines and Activities_ + Price $1.75 net + +OBTAINABLE FROM ALL BOOKSELLERS + + * * * * * + + +THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA + +by + +LAJPAT RAI + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + +New York +B. W. Huebsch +MCMXIX + +Copyright, 1919, by B. W. Huebsch +Printed in U.S.A. + + + + + TO MY FRIEND + COLONEL JOSIAH WEDGWOOD, M. P., D. S. O. + + + + +PREFACE + + +My book, _Young India_, was written during the first year of the war and +was finally revised and sent to the press before the war was two years +old. It concluded with the following observation: + + "The Indians are a chivalrous people; they will not disturb + England as long as she is engaged with Germany. The struggle after + the war might, however, be even more bitter and sustained." + +The events that have happened since have amply justified the above +conclusion. India not only refrained from disturbing England while she +was engaged in war with Germany, but actively helped in defeating +Germany and winning the war. She raised an army of over a million +combatants and supplied a large number of war workers, and made huge +contributions in money and materials. She denied herself the necessities +of life in order to feed and equip the armies in the field though within +the last months of the war, when scarcity and epidemic overtook her, she +lost six millions of her sons and daughters from one disease +alone--influenza. This was more than chivalry. This was self-effacement +in the interests of an Empire which, in the past, had treated her +children as helots. How much of this effort was voluntary and how much +of it was forced it is difficult to appraise. Great Britain, however, +has unequivocally accepted it as voluntary and has attributed it to +India's satisfaction with her rule. That India was not satisfied with +her rule she has spared no pains to impress upon the British people as +well as the rest of the world. Reading between the lines of the report +of the Secretary of State for India and the Viceroy has established the +fact of that dissatisfaction beyond the possibility of doubt, but if any +doubt still remained it has been dispelled by the writings and +utterances of her representative spokesman in India, in Great Britain +and abroad. The prince and the peasant, the landlord and the ryot, the +professor and the student, the politician and the layman--all have +spoken. They differ in their estimates of the "blessings" of British +rule, they differ in the manner of their profession of loyalty to the +British Empire, they sometimes differ in shaping their schemes for the +future Government of India but they are all agreed: + +(1) That the present constitution of the Government of India is +viciously autocratic, bureaucratic, antiquated and unsatisfying. + +(2) That India has, in the past, been governed more in the interests of, +and by the British merchant and the British aristocrat than in the +interests of her own peoples. + +(3) That the neglect of India's education and industries has been +culpably tragic and + +(4) That the only real and effectual remedy is to introduce an element +of responsibility in the Government of India. + +In the report of the Secretary of State and the Viceroy, so often quoted +and referred to in these pages, the truth of (1), (3), and (4) is +substantially admitted and point (2) indirectly conceded. In the +following pages an attempt is made to prove this by extracts from the +report itself. Ever since the report was published in July, 1918, India +has been in a state of ferment,--a ferment of enthusiasm and criticism, +of hope and disappointment. While the country has freely acknowledged +the unique value of the report, the politicians have differed in their +estimates of the value of the scheme embodied therein. Yet there is a +complete unanimity on one point, that nothing _less_ than what is +planned in the report will be accepted, even as the first step towards +eventual complete responsible Government. This is the minimum. Even the +ultra-moderates have expressed themselves quite strongly on that point. +Speaking at the Conference of the Moderates held at Bombay on November +1, 1918, the President, Mr. Surendranath Banerjea, is reported to have +said: "our creed is co-operation with the Government wherever +practicable, and opposition to its policy and measures when the supreme +interests of the mother-land require it.... I have a word to say ... to +the British Government. I have a warning note to sound.... If the +enactment of the Reform proposals is unduly postponed, if they are +whittled down _in any way_ ... there will be grave public discontent and +agitation." A little further in the same speech he asked if "by the +unwisdom of our rulers" India was "to be converted into a greater +Ireland." In less than six months from the date of this pronouncement, +the rulers of India gave ample proof of their "unwisdom" by actually +converting India into a "greater Ireland" and in establishing the +absolute correctness of the prognostication made by the present writer +in the concluding sentence of his book _Young India_. The manifesto of +the Moderate Party issued over the signatures of the Moderate leaders +all over the country contained the following warning: "We must equally +protest against every attempt, by whomever made and in whatever manner, +at any mutilation of the Montagu-Chelmsford proposals. We are +constrained to utter a grave warning against the inevitable disastrous +effects of such a grievous mistake on the future relations of the +British Government and the Indian people which will result in discontent +and agitation followed by repression on the one side and suffering on +the other side." Little did they know when they uttered the warning that +repression would come even before the Reform Scheme was discussed in +Parliament and "mutilated" there. British rule in Ireland has been for +the last twenty years a wearisome record of mixed concessions and +coercions. Every time a concession was made it was either preceded or +accompanied by strong doses of coercion. One would have thought that +British statesmen were wiser by their experience of Ireland, but it +seems that they have learnt nothing and that they have no intention of +doing in India anything different from what they have been doing in +Ireland. The history of British statesmanship in relation to Irish +affairs is repeating itself almost item by item in India. + +Lord Morley's reforms were both preceded and followed by strong measures +of repression and suppression. As if to prove that British statesmanship +can never in this respect set aside precedent even for once, Mr. +Montagu's proposals have been followed by a measure of coercion unique +even for India. Mr. Montagu's proposals for the reconstruction of +Government in India are yet in the air. They are being criticised and +examined minutely by numerous British agencies both in India and in +England as to how and in what respects they can be made innocuous. +Certain other reforms promised by the report, such as the scheme for +Local Self Government and the policy in relation to the Arms Act, have +already been disposed of in the usual masterly way of giving with one +hand and taking back with the other. Similarly the "great" scheme of +opening the commissioned ranks of the Army to the native Indians has +practically (for the present at least) ended in fiasco. But the policy +underlying the Rowlatt laws has surpassed all. In the chapters of this +book dealing with the Revolutionary movement the reader will find a +genesis of the Rowlatt laws of coercion. + +On the sixteenth of January in the _Gazette of India_ was published a +draft of two bills that were proposed to be brought before the +Legislative Council of India (which has a standing majority of +Government officials). These bills were to give effect to the +recommendations of the committee presided over by Mr. Justice Rowlatt of +the High Court of England, for the prevention, detection and punishment +of sedition in India. Their introduction into the Legislative Council +was at once protested against by all classes of Indians with a unanimity +never before witnessed in the history of India. All sections of the +great Indian population from the Prince to the peasant, including all +races, religions, sects, castes, creeds and professions joined in the +protest. Hindus, Mohammedans, Indian Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, +Parsees--all stood up, to a man, to oppose the measure. All the +political parties, Conservatives, Liberals, Moderates and Extremists +expressed themselves against it. The measure was opposed by all the +non-official Indian members of the Legislative Council. All methods of +agitation were resorted to in order to make the opinion of the country +known to the Government and to warn the latter against the danger of +defying the united will of the people. The press, the pulpit and the +platform all joined in denouncing the measures, meetings of protest were +held in all parts of the country and resolutions wired to the +Government. A few days before the final meeting at which these bills +were to be passed into law a number of prominent citizens, male and +female, pledged themselves to passive resistance in case the measures +were enacted. The passive resistance movement was inaugurated and led by +Mr. M. K. Gandhi, a man of saintly character, universally respected and +revered in India, the same who stood for the Government during the war +and rendered material help in recruiting soldiers, raising loans and +procuring other help for its prosecution. The following is the text of +the pledge that was signed by hundreds and thousands of Indians +belonging to all races and religions and hailing from all parts of the +continent: + + "Being conscientiously of opinion that the bills known as the + Indian Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill No. 1 of 1919 and No. 2 of + 1919 are unjust, subversive of the principle of liberty and + justice and destructive of the elementary rights of individuals on + which the safety of the community as a whole and the State itself + is based, we solemnly affirm that, in the event of these bills + becoming law, we shall refuse civilly to obey these laws and such + other laws as a committee to be hereafter appointed may think fit + and we further affirm that in this struggle we will faithfully + follow truth and refrain from violence of life, person or + property." + +The passive resistance movement was not approved by the country as a +whole, and influential voices were raised against it even in its early +stages but the fact that Mr. Gandhi had taken the responsibility of +initiating and leading it and that many women had signed the pledge +should have opened the eyes of the Government as to the intensity of the +feeling behind it. Besides this threat of passive resistance the Indian +members of the Council showed their solid opposition to the measure by +using all the historic obstructive methods so well known to the student +of Parliamentary debates in the House of Commons as associated with the +Irish Nationalist party under the leadership of Parnell. The debates in +the Legislative Council of India do not ordinarily last for more than +one day, consisting, at the most, of eight hours. The debate on this +bill lasted for three days; one sitting lasted "from 11 o'clock in the +morning ... until nearly half past one the following day with +adjournments for luncheon and dinner." The officials were determined to +pass the bill at that sitting and so they refused to rise until the +amendments on the agenda had been disposed of and the bill passed into +law. The non-officials proposed no less than 160 amendments but by the +application of closure methods they were all disposed of in three days +and the bill passed (on the 18th of March). The Government made a few +minor concessions but on the whole the bill remained as it had been +drafted, a monument of Governmental shortsightedness and stupidity. The +consideration of the other bill was postponed. As soon as the news +reached Bombay that the first bill had become law "the market was closed +as a protest" and "posters in English and the vernacular, were displayed +throughout the city urging the non-payment of taxes and asking the +people to resist the order of a tyrannical Government." (London _Times_, +April 2.) Similar manifestations of anger were made throughout the +country and the movement for passive resistance was definitely +inaugurated. It spread like wild fire. Thousands joined it and the +relations between the people and the Government became very strained. +However, no violence was resorted to, nor was any harm done to life and +property. Several members of the Legislative Council resigned their +offices. One of them a Mohammedan leader, wrote the following letter to +His Excellency the Viceroy: + + "Your Excellency, the passing of the Rowlatt Bill by the + Government of India and the assent given to it by your Excellency + as Governor-General against the will of the people has severely + shaken the trust reposed by them in British justice. Further, it + has clearly demonstrated the constitution of the Imperial + Legislative Council which is a legislature but in name, a machine + propelled by a foreign executive. Neither the unanimous opinion of + the non-official Indian members, nor the entire public opinion and + feeling outside has met with the least respect. The Government of + India and your Excellency, however, have thought it fit to place + on the statute-book a measure admittedly obnoxious and decidedly + coercive at a time of peace, thereby substituting executive for + judicial discretion. Besides, by passing this Bill, your + Excellency's Government have actively negatived every argument + they advanced but a year ago when they appealed to India for help + at the War Conference, and have ruthlessly trampled upon the + principles for which Great Britain avowedly fought the war. + + "The fundamental principles of justice have been uprooted and the + constitutional rights of the people have been violated, at a time + when there is no real danger to the state, by an overfearful and + incompetent bureaucracy which is neither responsible to the + people, nor in touch with real public opinion and their whole plea + is that 'powers when they are assumed will not be abused.' + + "I, therefore, as a protest against the passing of the Bill and + the manner in which it was passed, tender my resignation as a + member of the Imperial Legislative Council, for I feel that, under + the prevailing conditions, I can be of no use to my people in the + Council, nor, consistently with one's self respect, is coöperation + possible with a Government that shows such utter disregard for the + opinion of the representatives of the people in the Council + Chamber and the feelings and sentiments of the people outside. + + "In my opinion, a Government that passes or sanctions such law in + times of peace forfeits its claim to be called a civilized + Government and I still hope that the Secretary of State for India, + Mr. Montagu, will advise his Majesty to signify his disallowance + to this Black Act. + + "Yours truly, + "M. A. Jinnah." + +The leaders of the passive resistance movement declared 30th March as +"the National protest day." The protest was to be made by all the +traditional methods known to India for ages, viz., by fasting, stopping +business, praying, and meeting in congregations in their respective +places of worship. The only Western method contemplated was passing +resolutions and sending telegrams to the authorities in India and +England. The 30th of March was thus observed as a national protest day +throughout India and there was only one clash between the people and the +Government, viz., at Delhi, the national capital. + +Delhi has been the national capital of India from times immemorial. It +was the chief capital city of the Moguls. It has a mixed population of +Hindus and Mohammedans, almost evenly divided. The European population +there is not very large. There is a British garrison stationed in the +Mogul fort. Besides being the capital of British India, Delhi is a very +important trade center and the terminus of several railway lines. All +business was stopped, shops closed and the city gave an appearance of a +general strike. A mass meeting attended by 40,000 people, according to +British estimates, and presided over by a religious ascetic, passed +resolutions of protest and cabled them to the Secretary of State for +India in London. It was at Delhi and on this day as already stated that +the first clash occurred between the authorities and the people. It is +immaterial how it came about but it may be noted that rifles and machine +guns were freely used in dispersing the mobs at the railway station and +other places. According to official estimates fourteen persons were +killed and about sixty wounded. The non-official estimates give larger +figures. Evidently nothing serious happened between March 30th and April +6th which last was observed as a day of mourning throughout British +India from Peshawar to Cape Comorin and from Calcutta to Karachi and +Bombay. People held meetings, made speeches, marched in processions, +took pledges of passive resistance, closed shops, suspended business, +bathed in the sea, joined in prayer and fasted. No violence of any kind +was reported. In the words of a correspondent of the London _Times_, +"the distinguishing feature of many of these demonstrations [meaning +thereby passive resistance demonstrations] made on the 6th of April, +specially at Delhi, Agra, Bombay and Calcutta, is the Hindu and Moslem +fraternization, Hindus being freely admitted to the mosques, on +occasions occupying the Mihrab (the niche indicating the direction of +Mecca)." In a message dated April 7th the same correspondent cabled "an +unprecedented event in the shape of a joint Moslem-Hindu service at the +famous Juma Masjed at Delhi, at which a Hindu[1] delivered a sermon." +The Juma Masjed is one of the jewels of Mogul architecture and probably +the biggest mosque in India. + +On April 9th Sir Michael O'Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, +dwelt with pride on the fact that the province ruled by him with an iron +hand for the last five years "had raised 360,000 combatants during the +war." "Dealing with the political situation he declared that the +Government of the province was determined that public order which was +maintained during the war, should not be disturbed during peace. Action +had therefore been taken under the Defence Act against certain +individuals who were openly endeavoring to arouse public feeling against +the Government." It was this action, viz., the summary arrest of +leaders at Amritsar and the order of prohibition against Mr. Gandhi's +contemplated visit to the Punjab, that set fire to the accumulated +magazine. It exasperated the people and in a moment of despair the +intense strain of the last few weeks found relief in attacks on +Government buildings and stray persons of European extraction. What +actually happened in different places no one can definitely tell just at +this stage but it is clear that at places so widely distant as Amritsar +and Lahore in the Punjab and Viramgam in the Gujerat (Western +Presidency) railway stations, telegraph offices and some other public +buildings were burned, railway traffic interrupted, tram cars stopped +and some Europeans killed and attacked. At Amritsar three banks were +burnt down and their managers killed. Telegraphing on April 15th and +again on the 16th of April, the correspondent of the London _Times_ +remarked that "the Punjab continued to be the principal seat of trouble" +which was probably due to the extremely brutal methods which the Punjab +Government had followed in repressing and suppressing not only the +present 'riots' but also all kinds of political activity in the +preceding six years. It appears that in about a week's time almost the +whole province was ablaze. The Government used machine guns in +dispersing meetings, showered bombs from aeroplanes and declared martial +law in several towns, extended the seditious meetings prevention Act and +other emergency laws in districts, marched flying military columns from +one end to the other, accompanied by travelling courts martial to try +and punish on the spot all arrested for offences committed in connection +with the passive resistence movement. Leaders were arrested and +deported without trial of any kind; papers were suppressed and all kinds +of demonstrations prohibited. + +Among the leaders arrested are the names of some of the most +conservative and moderate of the Punjab public men--men whose whole life +is opposed to extremism of any kind. Those men were subjected to various +indignities, handcuffed and marched to jail. They have been held in +ordinary prison cells and all comforts have been denied to them as if +they were criminals. Counsel engaged for them from outside the Province +have been refused admission into the Province. Machine guns and +aeroplanes have been used in dispersing unarmed mobs and crowds were +fired at in many places. At Lahore the General Officer Commanding gave +notice "that unless all the shops were re-opened within 48 hours all +goods in the shops not opened will be sold by public auction." As to the +causes of the upheaval, the Anglo-Indian view is contained in a +telegraphic message to the London _Times_ bearing date April 20th. Below +we give a verbatim copy of this message: + + CAUSES OF THE UPHEAVAL. + + "Bombay, April 20.--We have passed through the most anxious ten + days that India has known for half a century. We have further + anxious days in store, for although in Bombay conditions are + improving and Mr. Gandhi has publicly abandoned the passive + resistance movement, while men of weight are rallying to the + support of the Government, the situation in Northern India is + disquieting. + + "We may pause to enquire into this widespread manifestation of + violence. How came it that passive resistance to the Rowlatt + Act--never likely to be applied to the greater part of India, + especially to Bombay, and nominally confined to the sale of + proscribed literature of doubtful legality, which was + waning--suddenly flamed into riot, arson, and murder at Delhi, + Ahmedabad, Viramgam, Amritsar, and other parts of the Punjab on + the prevention of Mr. Gandhi's entry into Delhi? All day on April + 11 Bombay stood on the brink of a bloody riot, averted only by the + Governor, Sir George Lloyd's prudent statesmanship and the great + restraint of the police and military in face of grave provocation. + + "The movement seems to have been twofold. In part it was the + expression of the prevailing ferment. India is no less affected + than other parts of the world by the social and intellectual + revolution of the war, by expectations based on the destruction of + German materialism and by ambitions for fuller partnership in the + British Empire. + + PROFITEERING AND TRICKERY. + + "The disruptive effect of these ideals is accentuated by + prevailing conditions. The prices of food are exceedingly high, + supplies are scanty, while efforts to control prices are hampered + by the profiteering and trade trickery unfortunately never absent + from this country. [As if it was absent from other countries.] + + "India having been swept bare of foodstuffs, to meet the + exigencies of the war, the people feel that the home Government is + lukewarm in releasing supplies from outside, and resent + particularly that the Shipping Controller is maintaining high + freights on fat and rice from Burma. These severe sufferings are + superimposed on the devastating influenza and cholera epidemics. + So much for the social and economic situation. + + "Then the activities of the Indo-British Association created grave + doubts whether Parliament will deal fairly with India when the + reform scheme is considered. The Rowlatt Act was precipitated into + this surcharged atmosphere. + + "The Act was wickedly perverted by the Extremists until among the + common people it became the general belief that it gave plenary + powers to a police which was feared and distrusted. Among educated + people, few of whom studied the report or the Act, it was bitterly + resented as a badge of India's subjection after loyal + participation in the war, at a time when the strongest feeling in + the country was craving for its self-respect in the eyes of the + nations. Further, it was regarded as prejudicing the cause of + political reform. + + "Another powerful contributory cause was the ferment amongst the + Moslem community. Everywhere the Moslems believe that the Peace + Conference is bent on the destruction of Islam. There is no + confidence in British protection after our declared policy in + regard to Turkey and the undoing of the settled fact in Eastern + Bengal in 1911. + + "This feeling is the more dangerous because it is inchoate. Moslem + officers returned from Palestine and Arabia, and acquainted with + the realities of Turkish rule, have expressed astonishment at the + strength of this feeling among their co-religionists here. + Mohamedans have been foremost in the work of riot and destruction + in Ahmedabad and Delhi, and the lower elements were ripe for + trouble in Bombay. I am unable to say how far this ferment + affected the outbreaks in the Punjab. + + "This seething Moslem unrest is the most menacing feature of + Indian politics to-day. It explains the unprecedented admission of + Hindus to the Mosques of Delhi and Aligarh.... + + REVOLUTIONARY INSPIRATION + + "So much for the general situation. In Northern India the + outbreaks were nakedly revolutionary. They are unconnected with + the Rowlatt Act or with passive resistance, which probably + precipitated a movement long concerted. There is abundant evidence + of the organized revolutionary character of the disturbances in + the systematic attacks on railways, telegraphs, and all means of + communication, and its definitely anti-British character is + apparent from the efforts to plunge the railways into a general + strike. + + "There are signs of the inter-connection of the Punjab + revolutionaries with the Bombay revolutionaries who organized + attacks on communications at Ahmedabad and Viramgam, derailed + trains, cut telegraphs, and sent rowdies from Kaira to take part + in the work of destruction. There is evidence also of some outside + inspiration, but whether Bolshevist or otherwise is obscure. + + "Whilst in the Punjab the soil was fruitful, owing to economic + conditions, the ravages of influenza, and the pressure of last + year's recruiting campaign, the revolutionary origin of the + disturbances is unquestioned...." + +As usual the message is a mixture of truth and imagination. At most it +is a partisan view. Be the causes what they may, the events in our +judgment amply justify the following conclusions: + +(_a_) That India is politically united in demanding a far reaching +measure of self-determination. + +(_b_) That she will not be satisfied with paltry measures of political +reform which do not give her power to shape her fiscal policy in her own +interests, independent of control from London. + +(_c_) That it is useless to further harp on the "cleavages" of race, +religion and language, in dealing with the problem of India. + +(_d_) That the country is no longer prepared to let measures of coercion +pass and take effect without making their protest and dislike known to +the authorities in a manner, the significance of which may not be open +to misunderstanding. + +The Indian members of the Legislative Council while opposing the Rowlatt +Bills spoke in sufficiently clear and strong language of the grave +situation the Government was creating by its ill-considered policy. They +knew their people. The bureaucracy evidently dismissed it as bluff or, +if it knew what was likely to happen, encouraged it in the hope that the +outbreak might justify their opposition to, and dislike of, the +Montagu-Chelmsford scheme. In doing that they have had to hatch the eggs +they themselves laid. These events have, besides, proved (_a_) that the +lead of the country has passed from the hands of the so called "natural +leaders," the aristocracy of land, money and birth; (_b_) that even the +moderate leaders have considerably lost in prestige and influence; (_c_) +that the lead has definitely passed into hands that openly and frankly +stand for self-determination and self-government within the Empire and +are prepared for _any sacrifice_ to achieve that end; (_d_) that the old +methods of governing India must now be discarded once for all and the +charge of provinces taken away from sun-dried bureaucrats of the type of +Sir Michael O'Dwyer and Sir Reginald Craddock. + +The bloodshed in the Punjab, which outdid all other Provinces in sending +help during the war both in men and money, pointed to the administration +or mal-administration of Sir Michael O'Dwyer as responsible for the +nature and intensity of the outbreak. If ever there was a British ruler +of India who deserved impeachment it is Sir Michael O'Dwyer. He was not +only a tyrant and a snob of the worst order but he was incompetent also. +One of the two things must have happened: Either he was out of touch +with public feeling in the province or he deliberately provoked this +disaster by a policy of strength. In either case he deserves to be +publicly impeached and condemned for incompetence or brutality or +possibly for both. + +The following Summary of the orders passed by the officer commanding +shows the nature of the martial law administered in the "most loyal" +province in India, a province which has so far been considered to be the +right arm of British Ráj in India. + +I have italicised some words and sentences for special attention. The +reader I hope will note the exceptions in favor of the Europeans and the +Indian servants in the employ of the Europeans and also the +reasonableness of the other orders, threatening punishment upon the +owners of certain properties and requiring "all students," and all male +persons belonging to private Colleges in Lahore to attend four times a +day at a particular place for roll call. Order No. 14 is a gem of great +brilliance. + +I have omitted order No. 6 as unimportant. Orders from 8 to 12 inclusive +are not available. What has been given above, however, is quite +sufficient to show the nature of the martial law that has been applied +to the Punjab, after five years of unquestioned and unrivalled loyalty +to the British Empire, in the period of greatest danger that had +overtaken it. Such is the reward of "loyalty." + + + NO. 1 + + Whereas the Government of India has for good reasons proclaimed + Martial Law in the districts of Lahore and Amritsar; and + + Whereas superior military authority has appointed me to command + troops and administer Martial Law in a portion of the Lahore + district, ... and whereas Martial Law may be briefly described as + the will of the Military Commander in enforcing law, order and + public safety: + + I make known to all concerned that until further orders by me the + following will be strictly carried out: + + 1. At 20·00 hours (8 o'clock) each evening a gun will be fired + from the Fort, and from that signal till 05·00 hours (5 o'clock) + on the following morning no person _other than a European_ or a + person in possession of a military permit signed by me or on my + behalf will be permitted to leave his or her house or compound or + the building in which he or she may be at 20 hours. During these + prohibited hours no person other than those excepted above will be + permitted to use the streets or roads, and any person found + disobeying this order will be arrested, and if any attempt is made + to evade or resist that person will be liable to be shot. + + This and all other orders which from time to time I may deem + necessary to make will be issued on my behalf from the water-works + station in the city, whither every ward will keep at least four + representatives from 6 A.M., till 17·00 hours (5 P.M.) daily to + learn what orders, if any, are issued and to convey such orders to + the inhabitants of their respective wards. _The onus of + ascertaining the orders issued by me will rest on the people + through their representatives._ + + 2. Loyal and law-abiding persons have nothing to fear from the + exercise of Martial Law. + + 3. In order to protect the lives of his Majesty's soldiers and + police under my command, I make known that if any firearm is + discharged or bombs thrown at them the most drastic reprisals will + instantly be made _against property surrounding the scene of the + outrage_. Therefore it behooves all loyal inhabitants to see to it + that no evil-disposed agitator is allowed on his premises. + + 4. During the period of Martial Law I prohibit all processions, + meetings or other gatherings of more than 10 persons without my + written authority, and any such meetings, gatherings or + processions held in disobedience of this order will be broken up + by force without warning. + + 5. I forbid any person to offer violence or cause obstruction to + any person desirous of opening his shop or conducting his business + or proceeding to his work or business. Any person contravening + this order will be arrested, tried by a summary court and be + liable to be shot. + + 6. At present the city of Lahore enjoys the advantage of electric + lights and a water-supply; but the continuance of these supplies + will depend on the good behaviour of the inhabitants and their + prompt obedience to my orders. + + + NO. 2 + + All tongas and tum-tums, (horse carriages) whether licensed for + hire or otherwise, will be delivered up to the Military Officer + appointed for that purpose at the Punjab Light Horse ground by + 17·00 (5 P.M.) to-day--Tuesday, 15th April. Drivers will receive + pay and horses be rationed. + + + NO. 3 + + All motor-cars or vehicles of any descriptions will be delivered + to the Military Officer appointed for that purpose at the Punjab + club by 17·00 (5 P.M.) this day. + + + NO. 4 + + By virtue of the powers vested in me I have prohibited the issue + of third or intermediate class tickets at all railway stations in + the Lahore Civil Command, _except only in the case of servants + travelling with their European masters or servants or others in + the employ of the Government_. + + + NO. 5 + + Whereas, from information received by me, it would appear that + shops, generally known as Langars, for the sale of cooked food, + are used for the purpose of illegal meetings, and for the + dissemination of seditious _propaganda_, and whereas I notice that + all other shops (particularly in Lahore city) have been closed as + part of an organized demonstration against his Majesty's + Government, now, therefore, by virtue of the powers vested in me + under Martial Law, I order that all such Langars or shops for the + sale of cooked food in the Lahore civil area, except such as may + be granted an exemption in writing by me shall close and cease to + trade by 10·00 hours (10 A.M.) tomorrow, Wednesday, the 16th + April, 1919. + + Disobedience to this order will result in the confiscation of the + contents of such shop and the arrest and trial by summary + procedure of the owner or owners. + + * * * * * + + + NO. 7 + + Whereas I have reason to believe that certain students of the D. + A. V. College in Lahore are engaged in spreading seditious + _propaganda_ directed against his Majesty's Government, and + whereas I deem it expedient in the interests of the preservation + of law and order to restrict the activities of such students, I + make the following order:-- + + _All students of the said college_ now in this Command area will + report themselves to the Officer Commanding Troops at the + Bradlaugh Hall daily at the hours specified below and remain there + until the roll of such students has been called by the principal + or some other officer approved by me acting on his behalf, and + until they have been dismissed by the Officer Commanding Troops at + Bradlaugh Hall. + + 07·00 hours. (7 A.M.) + 11·00 hours. (11 A.M.) + 15·00 hours. (3 P.M.) + 19·30 hours. (7.30 P.M.) + + + NO. 8 + + Whereas some evilly-disposed persons have torn down or defaced + notices and orders which I have caused to be exhibited for + information and good government of the people in the Lahore + (Civil) Command. + + In future all orders that I have to issue under Martial Law _will + be handed to such owners of property as I may select and it will + be the duty of such owners of property to exhibit and keep + exhibited and undamaged in the position on their property selected + by me all such orders_. + + The duty of protecting such orders will therefore devolve on the + owners of property and failure to ensure the proper protection and + continued exhibition of my orders will result in severe + punishment. + + _Similarly, I hold responsible the owner of any property on which + seditious or any other notices, proclamations or writing not + authorized by me are exhibited._ + + * * * * * + + + NO. 13 + + Whereas information laid before me shows that a martial law notice + issued by me and posted by my orders on a property known as the + Sanatan Dharam College Hostel on Bahawalpur road, has been torn or + otherwise defaced, in contravention of my Martial Law Notice No. 8. + + Now, therefore, by virtue of the powers vested in me under martial + law, I order the immediate arrest of _all male persons domiciled + in the said hostel and their internment in the Lahore Fort_ + pending my further orders as to their trial or other disposal. + + + NO. 14 + + Whereas practically every shop and business establishment in the + area under my command has been closed in accordance with the + _hartal_ or organized closure of business directed against his + Majesty's Government. + + And whereas the continuance or resumption of such _hartal_ is + detrimental to the good order and governance of the said area. + + And whereas I deem it expedient to cause the said _hartal_ to + entirely cease: + + Now therefore by virtue of the powers vested in me by martial law + I make the following order, namely:-- + + By 10·00 hours (10 A.M.) tomorrow (Friday), the 18th day of April, + 1919, every shop and business establishment (except only _langare_ + referred to in martial law notice No. 5, dated 15th April, 1919) + in the area under my command, shall open and carry on its business + _and thereafter daily shall continue to keep open and carry on its + business_ during the usual hours up to 20·00 hours (8 P.M.) in + exactly the same manner as before the creation of the said + _hartal_. + + And likewise I order that every skilled or other worker will from + 10·30 hours (10.30 A.M.) tomorrow, resume and continue during the + usual hours his ordinary trade, work or calling. + + And I warn all concerned that if at 10·00 hours (10 A.M.) + tomorrow, or at any subsequent time I find this order has been + without good and valid reason disobeyed, the persons concerned + will be arrested and tried under the summary procedure of martial + law, and shops so closed will be opened and kept open by force, + any resultant loss arising from such forcible opening will rest on + the owners and on occupiers concerned. + + And I further warn all concerned that this order must be strictly + obeyed in spirit as well as in letter, that is to say, that to + open a shop and then refuse to sell goods and to charge an + exorbitant or prohibitive rate, will be deemed a contravention of + this order. + + [Note: Shops had evidently remained closed for seven days.] + + + NO. 15 + + Whereas it has come to my knowledge that the present state of + unrest is being added to and encouraged by the spreading of false, + inaccurate or exaggerated reports or rumours: + + Now, therefore, by virtue of the powers vested in me by martial + law I give notice that _any person_ found guilty of publishing, + spreading or repeating, false, inaccurate or exaggerated reports + in connection with the military or political situation, will be + arrested and summarily dealt with under martial law. + + + NO. 16 + + Whereas I have reason to believe that certain students of the Dyal + Singh College in Lahore are engaged in spreading seditious + propaganda directed against his Majesty's Government and whereas I + deem it expedient in the interest of the preservation of law and + order to restrict the activities of such students, I make the + following order:-- + + _All students of the said college_ now in this command area will + report themselves to the officer commanding troops at the + telegraph office daily at the hours specified below and remain + there until the roll of such students has been called by the + principal or some other officer approved by me acting on his + behalf, and until they have been dismissed by the Officer + Commanding Troops at the telegraph office:-- + + 07·00 hours. (7 A.M.) + 11·00 hours. (11 A.M.) + 15·00 hours. (3 P.M.) + 19·00 hours. (7 P.M.) + + First parade at 11·00 hours (11 A.M.) on the (?) April, 1919. + + "The latest order under martial law passed today makes it unlawful + for more than two persons to walk abreast on any constructed or + clearly defined pavement or side-walk in such area. Disobedience + to this order will be punished by special powers under martial + law. It shall also be illegal for any male person to carry or be + found in possession of an instrument known as a _lathi_. All + persons disobeying this order will be arrested and tried by + summary proceedings under martial law." + + * * * * * + + + NO. 24 + + Whereas I deem it expedient to make provision for the preservation + of health and the greater comfort of British troops stationed in + the area under my command, + + And whereas a number of electric fans and lights are required in + the buildings in which some of such troops are quartered, + + Now therefore by virtue of the powers vested in me by martial law + I authorize any officer appointed by me for that purpose to enter + any college, public building, hostel, hotel, private or other + residence or building and remove such number of electric lights + and fans required for the purpose aforesaid, + + And any attempt to obstruct such removal, or to hide, or to damage + or to impair the immediate efficiency of any such fans or lights, + will be summarily dealt with under martial law, + + But nothing in this order shall authorize the removal of any fan + or light from a room usually inhabited by a woman. + + These are only a few of the orders we have been able to obtain. + + For weeks the Punjab was in a state of terror. Almost all of the + Native papers were either directly or indirectly suppressed or + terrorized into silence. Numerous persons were arrested and placed + for trial before military commissioners. Among them were a large + number of the most honored men in the province. Legal counsel from + outside the province was denied to them, and admission of + newspapermen into the province barred. In punishing the persons + found guilty the military commissioners have awarded sentences, + the parallel of which can only be found in the history of Czarism + in Russia. Flogging in the public was resorted to in more than one + place. In short, a complete reign of terror was established. So + great was the terrorism that the whole country was thrown into + such a paroxysm of rage, anger and despair as to make the people + forget the desire for a political constitution at this terrible + price. + +Just as I am writing these lines I learn from the London _Times_ that +the reports of the two committees that were sent to India to inquire +into (_a_) questions connected with the franchise and (_b_) the division +of functions between the Government of India and local governments, and +between the official and the popular elements in the local governments, +have been published in Great Britain. In one of the Appendices is given +a rather brief and inadequate summary of the recommendations of these +committees published by the London _Times_. At this stage it is +impossible to make any comments except that the franchise is by no +means as broad as it could have been, the restriction of local residence +on candidates for the provincial Legislative Councils extremely +unreasonable, and the strength of the Provincial Councils very meagre. +The recommendations are unsatisfactory in other respects also, specially +the power granted to the Governor to dismiss ministers. + +The question, however, is, "Will the Cabinet stand by these +recommendations or will they allow them to be whittled down?" Mr. +Montagu's bill, which is promised to be introduced in the House of +Commons early in June, will answer the question. + +In conclusion, I have to tender my thanks to my friend Dr. J. T. +Sunderland for having read my proofs. + + _June 2, 1919._ + + LAJPAT RAI + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] This Hindu happened to be the leader of a section of the Arya +Samaj--an organization known for its bitter attitude towards +Mohammedanism. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PREFACE, v + I INTRODUCTORY, 1 + II DEMOCRACY IN INDIA, 16 + III THE PRESENT IDEALS, 30 + IV THE STAGES, 36 + V THE CONDITIONS OF THE PROBLEM, 39 + VI THE PUBLIC SERVICES IN INDIA, 62 + VII THE INDIAN ARMY AND NAVY, 84 + VIII THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY IN INDIA, 91 + IX THE NATIVE STATES, 98 + X THE PROPOSALS, 110 + XI INDIA'S CLAIM TO FISCAL AUTONOMY, 136 + XII THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT, 146 + XIII THE PUNJAB, 164 + XIV RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REPRESSIVE LEGISLATION, 175 + XV THE REVOLUTIONARY PARTY, 181 + XVI EDUCATION, 190 + XVII THE PROBLEM, 197 + XVIII THE INTERNATIONAL ASPECT, 205 + APPENDIX A, 209 + APPENDIX B, 225 + APPENDIX C, 231 + + + + +The Political Future of India + + + + +I + +INTRODUCTORY + + Now we are faced with the greatest and the grimmest struggle of + all. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, not amongst men, but amongst + nations--great and small, powerful and weak, exalted and + humble,--equality, fraternity, amongst peoples as well as amongst + men--that is the challenge which has been thrown to us.... My + appeal to the people of this country, and, if my appeal can reach + beyond it, is this, that we should continue to fight for the great + goal of international right and international justice, so that + never again shall brute force sit on the throne of justice, nor + barbaric strength wield the sceptre of right. + + DAVID LLOYD GEORGE + + "Causes and Aims of the War." Speech delivered + at Glasgow, on being presented with the freedom + of that city, June 29, 1917 + + +We are told that the world is going to be reconstructed on entirely new +lines; that all nations, big or small, shall be allowed the right of +self-determination; that the weaker and backward peoples will no longer +be permitted to be exploited and dominated by the stronger and the more +advanced nations of the earth; and that justice will be done to all. +"What we seek," says President Wilson, "is the reign of law, based upon +the consent of the governed and sustained by the organized opinion of +mankind." + +The Indian people also form a part of the world that needs +reconstructing. They constitute one-fifth of the human race, and inhabit +about two million square miles of very fertile and productive territory. +They have been a civilized people for thousands of years, though their +civilization is a bit different from that of the West. We advisedly say +"a bit different," because in fundamentals that civilization has the +same basic origin as that of Greece and Rome, the three peoples having +originally sprung from the same stock and their languages, also, being +of common descent. For the last 150 years, or (even) more, India has +been ruled by Great Britain. Her people have been denied any determining +voice in the management of their own affairs. For over thirty years or +more they have carried on an organized agitation for an autonomous form +of Government within the British Empire. This movement received almost +no response from the responsible statesmen of the Empire until late in +the war. In the meantime some of the leaders grew sullen and +downhearted, and, under the influence of bitter disappointment and +almost of despair, took to revolutionary forms. The bulk of the people, +however, have kept their balance and have never faltered in their faith +in peaceful methods. When the war broke out the people of India at once +realized the world significance of this titanic struggle and in no +uncertain voice declared their allegiance to the cause of the Allies. +Our masters, however, while gratefully accepting our economic +contributions and utilizing the standing Indian army, spurned our offers +for further military contributions. In the military development of the +Indians they saw a menace to their supremacy in India. + +The Russian Revolution first, and then the entry of the United States +into the War, brought about a change in the point of view of the British +statesmen. For the first time they realized that they could not win the +war without the fullest coöperation of the people of India, both in the +military and the economic sense and that the fullest coöperation of the +United States also required as a condition precedent, quite a radical +revision of their war aims. President Wilson's political idealism, his +short, pithy and epigrammatic formulas compelled similar declarations by +Allied statesmen. The British statesmen, at the helm of affairs, found +it necessary to affirm their faith in President Wilson's principles and +formulas if they would not let the morale of their own people at home +suffer in comparison. In the meantime the situation in India was +becoming uncomfortable. The Nationalists and the Home Rulers insisted on +a clear and unequivocal declaration of policy on the lines of President +Wilson's principles. The British statesmen in charge of Indian affairs, +at Whitehall, were still temporizing when the report of the Royal +Commission on the causes of the Mesopotamia disaster burst out on the +half-dazed British mind like a bombshell. To the awakening caused by the +report and its disclosures a material contribution was made by the +outspoken, candid and clear-cut speech of a younger statesman, whose +knowledge of the working of the Indian Government could not be +questioned. When the Parliament, press and platform were all ablaze with +indignation and shame at the supposed incompetence of the Indian +Government, to whose inefficiency and culpable neglect of duty were +ascribed the series of disasters that ended with the surrender of a +British force at Kut-el-amara, Mr. Edwin Samuel Montagu, who had been an +Under Secretary for India under Lord Morley and was at the time of the +Mesopotamia disaster Minister of Munitions, came out with a strong and +emphatic condemnation of the system and the form of Government under +which the "myriads" of India lived and had their affairs managed. Mr. +Montagu's opinion of the machinery of the Indian Government was +expressed as follows: + + "The machinery of Government in this country with its unwritten + constitution, and the machinery of Government in our Dominions has + proved itself sufficiently elastic, sufficiently capable of + modification, to turn a peace-pursuing instrument into a + war-making instrument. It is the Government of India alone which + does not seem capable of transformation, and I regard that as + based upon the fact that the machinery is statute-ridden + machinery. The Government of India is too wooden, too iron, too + inelastic, too antediluvian, to be any use for the modern purposes + we have in view. I do not believe that anybody could ever support + the Government of India from the point of view of modern + requirements. But it would do. Nothing serious had happened since + the Indian mutiny, the public was not interested in Indian + affairs, and it required a crisis to direct attention to the fact + that the Indian Government is an indefensible system of + Government." + +Regarding the Indian Budget Debates in Parliament, he said: + + "Does anybody remember the Indian Budget Debates before the War? + Upon that day the House was always empty. India did not matter, + and the Debates were left to people on the one side whom their + enemies sometimes called "bureaucrats," and on the other side to + people whom their enemies sometimes called "seditionists," until + it almost came to be disreputable to take part in Indian Debates. + It required a crisis of this kind to realise how important Indian + affairs were. After all, is the House of Commons to be blamed for + that? What was the Indian Budget Debate? It was a purely academic + discussion which had no effect whatever upon events in India, + conducted after the events that were being discussed, had taken + place." + +He held that the salary of the Indian Secretary of State should be paid +from the British Treasury, and then there would be real debates: + + "How can you defend the fact that the Secretaries of State for + India alone of all the occupants of the Front Bench, with the + possible exception of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, + are not responsible to this House for their salaries, and do not + come here with their Estimates in order that the House of Commons + may express its opinion.... + + "What I am saying now is in the light of these revelations of this + inelasticity of Indian government. However much you could gloss + over those indefensible proceedings in the past, the time has now + come to alter them. + + "The tone of those Debates is unreal, unsubstantial and + ineffective. If Estimates for India, like Estimates for the + Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and the Colonial Secretary + were to be discussed on the floor of the House of Commons, the + Debates on India would be as good as the Debates on foreign + affairs. After all, what is the difference? Has it even been + suggested to the people of Australia that they should pay the + salary of the Secretary of State for the Colony? Why should the + whole cost of that building in Charles Street, including the + building itself, be an item of the Indian taxpayer's burden rather + than of this House of Commons and the people of the country?" + +Can and does the House of Commons control the India Office? Here is Mr. +Montagu's answer. + + "It has been sometimes questioned whether a democracy can rule an + Empire. I say that in this instance the democracy has never had + the opportunity of trying. But even if the House of Commons were + to give orders to the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State + is not his own master. In matters vitally affecting India, he can + be overruled by a majority of his Council. I may be told that the + cases are very rare in which the Council has differed from the + Secretary of State for India. I know one case anyhow, where it was + a very near thing, and where the action of the Council might + without remedy have involved the Government of India in a policy + out of harmony with the declared policy of the House of Commons + and the Cabinet. And these gentlemen are appointed for seven + years, and can only be controlled from the Houses of Parliament by + a resolution carried in both Houses calling on them for their + resignations. The whole system of the India Office is designed to + prevent control by the House of Commons for fear that there might + be too advanced a Secretary of State. I do not say that it is + possible to govern India through the intervention of the Secretary + of State with no expert advice, but what I do say is that in this + epoch now after the Mesopotamia Report, he must get his expert + advice in some other way than by this Council of men, great men + though, no doubt, they always are, who come home after lengthy + service in India to spend the first years of their retirement as + members of the Council of India. + + "Does any Member of this House know much about procedure in the + India Office? I have been to the India Office and to other + offices. I tell this House that the statutory organization of the + India Office produces an apotheosis of circumlocution and red tape + beyond the dreams of any ordinary citizen." + +His own idea of what should be done at that juncture was thus expressed: + + "But whatever be the object of your rule in India, the universal + demand of those Indians whom I have met and corresponded with, is + that you should state it. Having stated it, you should give some + instalment to show that you are in real earnest, some beginning of + the new plan which you intend to pursue, that gives you the + opportunity of giving greater representative institutions in some + form or other to the people of India.... + + "But I am positive of this, that your great claim to continue the + illogical system of Government by which we have governed India in + the past is that it was efficient. It has been proved to be not + efficient. It has been proved to be not sufficiently elastic to + express the will of the Indian people; to make them into a warring + Nation as they wanted to be. The history of this War shows that + you can rely upon the loyalty of the Indian people to the British + Empire--if you ever before doubted it! If you want to use that + loyalty, you must take advantage of that love of country which is + a religion in India, and you must give them that bigger + opportunity of controlling their own destinies, not merely by + Councils which cannot act, but by control, by growing control, of + the Executive itself. Then in your next War--if we ever have + War--in your next crisis, through times of peace, you will have a + contented India, an India equipped to help. Believe me, Mr. + Speaker, it is not a question of expediency, it is not a question + of desirability. Unless you are prepared to remodel, in the light + of modern experience, this century-old and cumberous machine, + then, I believe, I verily believe, that you will lose your right + to control the destinies of the Indian Empire." + +The quick and resourceful mind of Premier Lloyd George at once grasped +the situation. He lost no time in deciding what was needed. Probably +over the head of his Tory colleagues, possibly with their consent, he +gave the Indian portfolio to Mr. Montagu, and told him quietly to set to +business. Mr. Montagu's first step was the announcement of August 20, +1917. On that date he made in the House of Commons the following +memorable statement: + + "The policy of His Majesty's Government, with which the Government + of India are in complete accord, is that of the increasing + association of Indians in every branch of the administration and + the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view + to the progressive realisation of responsible government in India + as an integral part of the British Empire. They have decided that + substantial steps in this direction should be taken as soon as + possible, and that it is of the highest importance as a + preliminary to considering what these steps should be that there + should be a free and informal exchange of opinion between those in + authority at home and in India. His Majesty's Government have + accordingly decided, with His Majesty's approval, that I should + accept the Viceroy's invitation to proceed to India to discuss + these matters with the Viceroy and the Government of India, to + consider with the Viceroy the views of local Governments, and to + receive with him the suggestions of representative bodies and + others. + + "I would add that progress in this policy can only be achieved by + successive stages. The British Government and the Government of + India, on whom the responsibility lies for the welfare and + advancement of the Indian peoples, must be judges of the time and + measure of each advance, and they must be guided by the + co-operation received from those upon whom new opportunities of + service will thus be conferred and by the extent to which it is + found that confidence can be reposed in their sense of + responsibility. + + "Ample opportunity will be afforded for public discussion of the + proposals which will be submitted in due course to Parliament." + +It is obvious that the content of the second sentence of paragraph two +in the above announcement is in fundamental opposition to the right of +every nation to self-determination, a principle now admitted to be of +general application (including, according to the British Premier, even +the black races inhabiting the Colonies that were occupied by Germany +before the War, within its purview). The people of India are not on the +level of these races. Even if it be assumed that they are not yet in a +position to exercise that right, fully and properly, it is neither right +nor just to assume that they shall never be in that position even +hereafter. The qualifications implied in that sentence are, besides, +quite needless and superfluous. As long as India remains "an integral +part of the British Empire" she cannot draft a constitution which does +not meet with the approval of the British Parliament and the British +Sovereign. It is to be regretted that the British statesmen could not +rise equal to the spirit of the times and make an announcement free from +that spirit of autocratic bluster and racial swagger which was entirely +out of place at a time when they were making impassioned appeals +to Indian manhood to share the burdens of Empire by contributing +ungrudgingly in men and money for its defence. This attitude is +somewhat inconsistent with the statements in paragraph 179 of the +Montagu-Chelmsford Report, wherein, after referring to the natural +evolution of "the desire for self-determination," the distinguished +authors of the Report concede that "the demand that now meets us from +the educated classes of India is no more than the right and natural +outcome of the work of a hundred years." + +In spite of this uncalled for reservation in the announcement, it is +perfectly true that "the announcement marks the end of one epoch and the +beginning of a new one." What makes the announcement "momentous," +however, is not the language used, as even more high-sounding phrases +have been used before by eminent British statesmen of the position of +Warren Hastings, Macaulay, Munroe, Metcalf and others, but the fact that +the statement has been made by the Secretary of State for India, as +representing the Crown and the Cabinet who, in their turn, are the +constitutional representatives of the people of Great Britain and +Ireland. The statement is thus both morally and legally binding on the +British people, though it will not acquire that character so far as the +people of India are concerned, unless it is embodied in a Statute of +Parliament. Is it too much to hope that when that stage comes the second +sentence of the second paragraph might be omitted or so modified as to +remove the inconsistency pointed out above? + +We have no doubt, however, that the language of the announcement +notwithstanding, the destiny of India remains ultimately in the hands of +the Indians themselves. It will be determined, favorably or unfavorably, +by the solidity of their public life, by the purity and idealism of the +Indian public men to be hereafter entrusted with the task of +administration, by the honesty and intensity of their endeavor to uplift +the masses, both intellectually and economically, by the extent to which +they reduce the religious and communal excuses that are being put forth +as reasons for half-hearted advance, and by the amount of political +unity they generate in the nation. The well known maxim that those who +will must by themselves be free, is as good today as ever. They will +have to do all this in order to persuade the British Parliament to +declare them fit for responsible Government. Once they show their +fitness by deeds and by actual conduct, no one can keep them in +leading-strings. + +Coming back to the announcement itself, would it not be well to bear in +mind that what differentiates this announcement from the statutory +declarations of the Act of 1833 and the Royal proclamation of 1858 is +not the language used but the step or steps taken to ascertain Indian +opinion, to understand and interpret it in accordance with the spirit of +the times and the frankness and fairness with which the whole problem is +stated in the joint report of the two statesmen, who are the present +official heads of the Government of India. Nor can it be denied that the +announcement and the report have received the cordial appreciation of +the Indian leaders. + +We, that is, the Indian Nationalists, have heretofore concerned +ourselves more with criticism of the British administration than with +the problem of construction, though our criticism has never been merely +destructive. We have always ended with constructive suggestions. +Henceforth, if the spirit of the announcement is translated into deeds +it will be our duty to coöperate actively in constructive thought. Not +that we refused coöperation in the past, but the conditions and the +terms on which we were asked to coöperate made it impossible for us to +make an effective response. + +Several British critics of the Indian Nationalists have from time to +time charged them with lack of constructive ability. They ignore the +fact that political conditions in India were an effective bar to any +display of ability. + +The first attempt at constitution making was made by the Congress in +1915, and as such was bound to be rather timid and half-hearted. The +situation since then has considerably improved and the discussions of +the last twelve months have enabled the Secretary for India and the +Viceroy to claim that, in certain respects, at least, their scheme is a +more effective step towards responsible Government than the scheme +promulgated jointly by the Congress and the Muslim League. How far that +claim can be substantiated remains to be seen. This much is, however, +clear: come what may, along with the rest of the world, India cannot go +back to the pre-war conditions of life. The high functionaries of the +British Government in India are also conscious of that fact, as one of +them, the present Lieutenant Governor of the United Provinces of Agra +and Oudh, a member of the Indian bureaucracy, remarked only recently in +a speech at Allahabad: + +"Nothing will ever be the same," said Sir Harcourt Butler; "this much is +certain, that we shall have to shake up all our old ideals and begin +afresh ... we have crossed the watershed and are looking down on new +plains. The old oracles are dumb. The old shibboleths are no more heard. +Ideals, constitutions, rooted ideas are being shovelled away without +argument or comment or memorial.... Our administrative machine belongs +to another age. It is top-heavy. Its movements are cumbrous, slow, +deliberate. It rejoices in delay. It grew up when time was not the +object, when no one wanted change, when financial economy was the ruling +passion of Governments, imperial and provincial. Now there are the +stirrings of young national life, and economic springtime, a calling for +despatch, quick response, bold experiment. Secretariats with enormous +offices overhang the administration. An eminent ecclesiastic once told +me that Rome had, by centuries of experience, reduced delay to a +science; he used to think her mistress of postponement and +procrastination, but the Government of India beat Rome every time. Only +ecclesiatics could dare so to speak of the Government of India. I, for +one, will not lay audacious hands on the chariot of the sun." + +Coming, as it does, from a member of the Anglo-Indian bureaucracy, this +statement means much more to the Indian people than even the words of +the British Premier. If this statement is not mere camouflage, but +represents a genuine change of heart on the part of the British +bureaucracy in India, then it is all the more inexplicable to us why the +new scheme of the Secretary for India and the Viceroy should breathe so +much distrust of the educated classes of India. Any way, we have nothing +but praise for the spirit of frankness and fairness which generally +characterizes the report. However we might disagree with the conclusions +arrived at, it is but right to acknowledge that the analysis of the +problem and its constituting elements is quite masterly and the attempt +to find a solution which will meet the needs of the situation _as +understood by them_ absolutely sincere and genuine. This fact makes it +all the more necessary that Indian Nationalists of all classes and all +shades of opinion should give their best thought to the consideration of +the problem in a spirit of construction and coöperation, as +distinguished from mere fault-finding. Nor should it be forgotten for a +moment that Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford were all the time, when +drawing their scheme, influenced by considerations of what, under the +circumstances, is practicable and likely to be accepted, not only in +India by the Anglo-Indian bureaucracy and the non-official European +community, but by the _conservative_ British opinion at home. It is the +latter we have to convince and win over before the scheme has a ghost of +a chance of being improved upon. When we say _conservative_ opinion we +include in that expression the Liberal and Labour Imperialists also. We +should never forget that it is hard to part with power, however +idealistic the individual vested with power may be, and it is still +harder to throw away the chances of profit which one (and those in whom +one is interested) have gained by efforts extending over a century and a +half, and in the exercise of which one sees no immediate danger. I am of +the opinion that hitherto Indian representation in England has been +extremely meagre, spasmodic and inadequate to the needs of the +situation. Outside England, India's voice has been altogether unheard. +We have so far displayed an almost unpardonable simplicity in failing to +recognise that the world is so situated these days that public opinion +in one country sometimes reacts quite effectively on public opinion in +another. It is our duty, therefore, to increase our representation in +England and to keep our case before the world with fresh energy and +renewed vigour, not in a spirit of carping denunciation of the British +Government of India, but with a desire to educate and enlist liberal and +right-minded opinion all over the world in our favor. In the following +pages an attempt is made to examine the Montagu-Chelmsford report in a +spirit of absolute candour and fairness, with practical suggestions for +the improvement of the scheme in the light of Indian and British +criticism thereupon. + + + + +II + +DEMOCRACY IN INDIA + + A nation that can sing about its defeat is a nation which is + immortal. + + DAVID LLOYD GEORGE + + "Serbia." Speech delivered at the Serbian + Lunch (Savoy Hotel), August 8, 1917. + + +Before we take up the report of the Secretary for India and the Viceroy +we intend to clear the ground by briefly meeting the almost universal +impression that prevails in educated circles in the West, that +democratic institutions are foreign to the genius of the Asiatic peoples +and have never been known in India before. The latest statement to this +effect was made by Mr. Reginald Coupland of the _Round Table Quarterly_, +in an article he contributed to the _New Republic_ (September 7, 1918) +on "Responsible Government in India." We have neither the time nor the +desire to go into the question as it relates to other Asiatic countries, +though we might state, in general terms, that an impartial study of +Asiatic history will disclose that in the centuries preceding the +Reformation in Europe, Asia was as democratic or undemocratic as Europe. +Since then democracy has developed on modern lines in Europe. While Asia +has gradually disintegrated and fallen under foreign domination, Europe +has progressed towards democracy. As regards India, however, we intend +to refer briefly to what historical evidence is available. + +Firstly, we wish to make clear what we understand by "democracy." There +is no desire to enter into an academic discussion of the subject nor to +burden this book with quotations from eminent thinkers and writers. In +our judgment, the best definition of democracy so far has been furnished +by Abraham Lincoln, viz., "the government of the people, by the people +and for the people," regardless of the process or processes by which +that government is constituted. One must, however, be clear minded as to +what is meant by "the people." Does the expression include all the +people that inhabit the particular territory to which the expression +applies, regardless of sex, creed, color and race, or does it not? If it +does, we are afraid there is little democracy even in Europe and America +today. Until recently half of the population was denied all political +power in the State by virtue of sex. Of the other half a substantial +part was denied that right by virtue of economic status or, to be more +accurate, by lack of economic status considered necessary for the +exercise of political power. Even now the Southern States of the United +States, Amendment XV to the American Constitution notwithstanding, +effectively bar the colored people from the exercise of the franchise +supposed to have been accorded to them by the amendment. In Europe, +religious and social bars still exist in the constitutions of the +different states. As Great Britain is supposed to be the most democratic +country in Europe, we cannot do better than take the history of the +growth of public franchise in that country as the best illustration of +the growth of democracy in the terms of President Lincoln's formula. + +Travelling backwards, the earliest democratic institutions known to +Europe were those of Greece and Rome. In applying the term "democratic" +to the city republics of Greece and Rome it is ignored that these +"republics" were in no sense democratic. "Liberty," says Putnam Weale, +"as it was understood in those two celebrated republics of Athens and +Sparta meant abject slavery to the vast mass of the population, slavery +every whit as cruel as any in the Southern States of the American Union +before the war of Liberation.... In neither of these two republics did +the freemen ever exceed twenty thousand, whilst the slaves ran into +hundreds of thousands, and were used just as the slaves of Asiatics were +used.[1] Thus the Greek republics were simply cities in which a certain +portion of the inhabitants, little qualified to exercise them, had +acquired exclusive privileges, while they kept the great body of their +brethren in a state of abject slavery."[2] Discussing the nature of +Roman citizenship Putnam Weale remarks (p. 25) that "in spite of the +polite fiction of citizenship, the destinies of scores of millions were +effectively disposed of by a few thousands." This was true not only with +regard to the outlying parts of the Empire but even as to Italy itself. +"Roman liberty," continues Putnam Weale, "though an improvement on Greek +conceptions, was like all liberty of antiquity confined really to those +who, being present in the capital, could take an active part in the +public deliberations. It was the liberty of city and not of a land. It +was therefore exactly similar in practise, if not in theory, to the kind +of liberty, which has always been understood in advanced Asiatic +states--the system of Government by equipoise and nothing else. The idea +of giving those who lived at a distance from the capital any means of +representing themselves was never considered at all; and so, it was the +populace of the capital (or only a part of it), aided by such force as +might be introduced by the contesting generals or leaders, which held +all the actual political power. _Representative Government_--the only +effective guarantee of liberty of any sort--_had therefore not yet been +dreamt of_." [The italics are ours.] + +Alison in his _History of Europe_, Vol. I, says: "The states of +Florence, Genoa, Venice and Pisa were not in reality free; they were +communities _in which a few individuals had usurped_ the rights, and +disposed of the fortunes, of the great bulk _of their fellow citizens, +whom they governed as subjects or indeed as slaves_. During the most +flourishing period of their history, the citizens of all Italian +republics did not amount to 20,000, and these privileged classes held as +many million in subjection. The citizens of Venice were 2500 and those +of Genoa 4500, those of Pisa, Siena, Lucca and Florence taken together, +not above 6000." [Italics ours.] Coming to more modern times we find it +stated by Morse Stephens in his _History of Revolutionary Europe_ that +"the period which preceded the French Revolution and the era of war from +the troubles of which Modern Europe was to be born may be characterised +as that of the benevolent despots. The State was everything, the nation +nothing." Speaking of the eighteenth-century conditions in Europe, +Stephens remarks that "the great majority of the peasants of Europe were +throughout that century absolute serfs"; also that "the mass of the +population of Central and Eastern Europe was purely agricultural and in +its poverty expected naught but the bare necessaries of existence. The +cities and consequently the middle classes formed but an insignificant +factor in the population." These quotations reveal the real character of +the European democracy in ancient and mediæval and even in early modern +Europe up to the end of the eighteenth century, or, to be more accurate, +to the time of the French Revolution. Compare this with the following +facts about the political institutions of India, during the ancient and +mediæval times: + +(1) First we have the testimony of ancient Brahmanic and Buddhistic +literature, preserved in their sacred books, about the right of the +people to elect their rulers; the duty of the rulers to obey _the law_ +and their obligation to consult their ministers as well as the +representatives of the public in all important affairs of State. + +The Vedic literature contains references to non-monarchial forms of +Government,[3] makes mention of elected rulers and of assemblies of +people, though the normal as distinguished from universal form of +Government according to Professor Macdonald was by Kings, "a situation +which, as in the case of the Aryan invaders of Greece and of the German +invaders of England, resulted almost necessarily in strengthening the +monarchic element of the constitution."[4] + +In the _Aitreya Brahmana_ occur terms which are translated by some as +representing the existence of "self-governed" and "kingless" states. +These authorities have been collected, translated and explained by K. P. +Jayas Wal and Narendranath Law in a series of articles published in the +_Modern Review_ of Calcutta. + +The _Mahabharata_, the great Hindu epic, makes mention of kingless +states or oligarchies. "In fact," says Mr. Banerjea, "all the Indian +nations of these times possessed popular institutions of some type or +other."[5] + +Professor Rhys Davids has said, in his _Buddhist India_, that "the +earliest Buddhist records reveal the survival side by side with more or +less powerful monarchies, of republics with either complete or modified +independence." He names ten such republics in Northern India alone. In +regard to the system of Government effective within one of the tribes +that constituted a republic of their own, the same scholar observes: +"The administrative and judicial business of the clan was carried out in +public assembly, at which young and old were alike present in their +common Mote Hall. A single chief--how and for what period chosen we do +not know--was elected an officeholder, presiding over the sessions, or, +if there were no sessions, over the State. He bore the title of _Raja_, +which must have meant something like the Roman Consul or the Greek +Archon."[6] There is no evidence of the existence of slaves or serfs in +these communities. Evidently all were freemen. + +(2) We have the evidence of Greek historians of the period who +accompanied Alexander in his Asiatic Campaign, or who, after Alexander's +death, represented Greek monarchs at the courts of Indian rulers. "Even +as late as the date of Alexander's invasion," says Mr. Banerjea, "many +of the nations of the Punjab lived under democratic institutions." +Speaking of one of them called Ambasthas (Sambastai), the Greek author +of _Ancient India_ says: "They lived in cities in which the democratic +form of Government prevailed." "Curtius," adds Mr. Banerjea, "mentions a +powerful Indian tribe, where the form of Government was democratic, and +not regal."[7] Similarly Arrian, another Greek writer, is quoted as +mentioning several other independent, self-governing tribal communities +who lived under democratic forms of government and bravely resisted the +advance of Alexander. One of them, when making submission to Alexander, +told him that "they were attached more than any others to freedom and +autonomy, and that their freedom they had preserved intact from the time +Dionysos came to India until Alexander's invasion."[8] There were some +others which had an aristocratic form of Government. In one of them +mentioned in _Ancient India_, "the administration was in the hands of +three hundred wise men." + +Another Greek writer, Diodoros, speaks of _Patala_ as "a City of great +note with a political constitution drawn on the same lines as the +Spartan." It may safely be presumed that the Greek meant what he said. +Chanakya, the author of a great treatise on political science, mentions +many powerful oligarchies that existed down to the fourth century A. D. +In one of the inscriptions, said to be of the sixth century A. D., the +_Malavas_ are referred to as living under a republican form of +Government.[9] + +(3) Even when kingship became an established institution the idea that +the King was only a servant of the people survived for a long time. His +"remuneration" was fixed at one-sixth of the produce. His subjects had +the right to depose him or to turn him out if he failed in his duty. The +authorities on these points are collected by Mr. Banerjea on pp. 72 and +73 of his book. + +(4) Similarly many authorities are quoted by Mr. Banerjea on pp. 74 and +75 of his learned work showing that, according to Hindu ideals practised +in ancient times, the king was not above the law. He was not an +autocrat. He was as much bound by the law as his subjects. Laws were not +made by kings. "Legislation was not among the powers entrusted to a +king," says Mr. Banerjea. "There is no reference in early Vedic +literature to the exercise of legislative authority by the king, though +later it is an essential part of his duties," says Prof. Macdonell.[10] + +(5) Assemblies and councils are quite frequently mentioned both in the +Rig and the Atharva Vedas. "The popular assembly was a regular +institution in the early years of the Buddhistic age (500 to 300 B.C.)" +Chanakya mentions that in the King's Council the decision of the +majority should prevail.[11] Sukraniti lays down elaborate rules of +procedure for the conduct of business in these assemblies. "The Council +was the chief administrative authority in the kingdom. The King was +supposed not to do anything without the consent of the Council."[12] In +_Kerala_ State, South India, during the first and second centuries of +the Christian Era, there were five assemblies one of which consisted of +"representatives of the people summoned from various parts of the +State."[13] "From the Ceylon inscriptions we learn that in that island +all measures were enacted by the King in Council, and all orders were +issued by and under the authority of the Council." + +While all this is true of Ancient India, we cannot claim the existence +of the same system of Government for mediæval India. Even as regards +Ancient India, all that is claimed is that it possessed as much +democracy, if not more, as Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome. The +non-existence of slavery in Northern India gives it therefore a superior +character to that of the Ancient republics of Greece and Rome. In the +South, it is believed slavery did exist. Coming to mediæval times +generally known as the Mohammedan period of Indian History consisting of +two epochs, from 400 to 1200 A.D. and from 1200 to 1800 A.D., we notice +that the country enjoyed a durable kind of government, cities under +absolute rule, and villages, as before, self-governed. The absolute rule +was a benevolent or malevolent despotism according to the character of +the Hindu or Moslem sovereign who reigned. But in the villages India +maintained a democratic form of government right up to the beginning of +British rule; and though under British rule, it has been practically +superseded by the rule of the officials, yet in some parts of the +country the spirit is still alive, as will appear from the following +testimony recorded by Mr. Sidney Webb in his Preface to Mr. John +Matthai's volume, _Village Government in British India_: + + "One able collector of long service in Central India informed me + that he had been, until a few months before, totally unaware that + anything of the sort existed in any of the villages over which he + ruled. But being led to make specific inquiries on the subject, he + had just discovered, in _village after village, a distinctly + effective if somewhat shadowy, local organization, in one or other + form of panchayat, which was, in fact, now and then giving + decisions on matters of communal concern, adjudicating civil + disputes, and even condemning offenders to reparation and fine_. + Such a Local Government organization is, of course, 'extra-legal' + and has no statutory warrant, and, in the eyes of the British + tribunals, possesses no authority whatever. But it has gone on + silently existing, possibly for longer than the British Empire + itself, and is still effectively functioning, merely by common + consent and with the very real sanction of the local public + opinion." + +Mr. Matthai has also made a similar remark in Paragraph 22 of his book +(Introductory). + +Village councils ordinarily called village _panchayats_ have often been +confounded with caste panchayats and that fact has been emphasised to +prove that these Indian _panchayats_ were or are anything but +democratic. Mr. Sidney Webb and Mr. John Matthai both have controverted +that position and upon good evidence. Says Mr. Webb: + + "One suggestion that these fragments of indigenous Indian Local + Government seem to afford is that we sometimes tend to exaggerate + the extent to which the cleavages of caste have prevailed over the + community of neighbourhood. How often is one informed, 'with + authority,' that the _panchayat_ of which we catch glimpses must + be only a caste _panchayat_! It is plain, on the evidence, that + however frequent and potent may be the _panchayat_ of a caste, + there have been and still are _panchayats_ of men of different + castes, exercising the functions of a Village Council over + villagers of different castes. How widely prevalent these may be + not even the Government of India can yet inform us. But if people + would only look for traces of Village Government, instead of + mainly for evidences of caste dominance, we might learn more on + the subject." + +Later on in the same paragraph Mr. Webb remarks that, even where caste +exists it has, in fact, permitted a great deal of common life, and that +it is compatible with active village councils. + +Besides the evidence furnished by the texts of Hindu codes, law books +and political treatises (like the _Arthasastra_ of _Kautalaya_), and +Nítí Shástrá, etc., other good evidence has been produced by Mr. Matthai +in support of the above-mentioned proposition. + +In Paragraph 23 he refers to the _Madras Epigraphic Report_, 1912-13, in +support of the statement that "there were village assemblies in South +India in the tenth century A.D., which 'appear to have consisted of all +the residents of a village including cultivators, professionals and +merchants.'" + + "In the _Private Diary of Anandaranga Pillay_, who served as agent + to Dupleix, the French Governor in South India in the middle of + the eighteenth century, there is an entry referring to a village + meeting to consider a case of desecrating the village temple 'in + which people of all castes--from the Brahman to the Pariah--took + part.'" + +In Paragraph 24, he points out that a village council (_Panchayat_) +might either be an assembly of all the inhabitants of the village or +only a select committee consisting of representatives selected on some +recognized principle. The first are common among less developed +communities like those of the aboriginal tribes and the latter in more +highly organized communities. + +Evidences of bigger assemblies consisting of representatives of more +than one village, sometimes of more than one district, to decide cases +of importance or dispute between whole villages are also cited in +Paragraphs 26 and 27 and 32. On the strength of certain South Indian +Inscriptions relating to the Tamil Kingdoms of the 10th century A.D., it +is stated that the administration of the village was carried on by no +less than five or six committees, each vested with jurisdiction relating +to certain definite departments of village life, though there was no +fixed rule on the point. In Paragraphs 33 and 34 the mode of election to +the committees and the qualifications for membership are set down in +detail. The procedure seems to have been quite elaborate, though suited +to the level of intelligence of the people concerned. These village +councils and committees looked after education, sanitation, poor relief, +public works, watch and ward, and the administration of justice. To +describe the methods by which these departments of village life were +administered by the village councils requires too much space, but we +give two excerpts from Chapter II on education: + + "The history of village education in India goes back perhaps to + the beginnings of the village community. The schoolmaster had a + definite place assigned to him in the village economy, in the same + manner as the headman, the accountant, the watchman, and the + artisans. He was an officer of the village community, paid either + by rent-free lands or by assignments of grain out of the village + harvest." + + "The outstanding characteristics of the schools of the Hindu + village community were: (1) that they were democratic, and (2) + that they were more secular than spiritual in their instruction + and their general character.... Nevertheless, when we speak of the + democratic character of these early Hindu schools, it is to be + understood that they were democratic only in this sense, that they + were open not merely to the priestly caste but to all the four + superior castes alike. There was never any question of admitting + into the schools those who lay outside the regular caste system + whose touch would have meant pollution, nor to the great + aboriginal populations of the country." + + "This is very similar to the public schools in the Southern + States, in the United States, where schools for the white children + are closed to coloured children and vice versa." + +From what has been stated above it appears that the general impression +that democratic institutions are _entirely_ foreign to India is nothing +but the survival of a prejudice originally due to ignorance of Indian +history. In collecting his evidence Mr. Matthai has principally drawn +upon South Indian sources. There can be no doubt that abundant evidence +of a similar kind is available as regards North India and is waiting to +be collected, collated and sifted by other Matthais. We do not contend +that India had the same kind of representative institutions as Modern +Europe has. In fact no part of the world had. They are all recent +developments. The democratic nature of an institution does not depend on +the methods of election but on the people's right to express their will, +directly, or through their representatives, in the management of their +public affairs. It is clear that that idea was never altogether absent +from Indian life either in theory or in practise. Even under the most +absolute autocracies, the bulk of the people managed their collective +affairs themselves. They organised and maintained schools; arranged and +paid for sanitation; built public works; provided for watch and ward; +administered justice, and for all these purposes raised revenues and +spent them in a democratic way. They did so, not only as regards the +internal affairs of a village, but applied the same principles in the +larger life of their district or districts. Such a people cannot be said +to have _always_ lived a life dictated and held together by force. Nor +can it be said with justice that the introduction of modern democratic +methods in such a country, among such a people, would be the +introduction of an exotic plant, with the spirit and working of which it +will take them centuries to be familiar. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] It is extremely doubtful if there were any slaves in India in the +corresponding period of Indian history. At least, Megasthenes, the Greek +ambassador at the Court of Chandra Gupta, did not find any in northern +India, though his opinion is not accepted as quite correct. It is said +that slavery did exist in a mild form in the southern peninsula. + +[2] _The Conflict of Colour_, by PUTNAM WEALE, The Macmillan Co., New +York, 1910, pp. 20-21. + +[3] _Public Administration in Ancient India_, by P. BANERJEA, Macmillan, +London, 1916, p. 42. + +[4] _Vedic India_, by MACDONNELL & KEITH. Vol. II. p. 210. + +[5] BANERJEA, p. 43. + +[6] _Buddhist India_, p. 9. + +[7] _Ancient India_, _Alexander's Invasion_ (MCCRINDLE, p. 292), quoted +by Mr. BANERJEA. p. 44. + +[8] ARRIAN, _Anabasis_ (MCCRINDLE), p. 154; quoted by Mr. BANERJEA, p. +154. If the Greek writers were familiar with the conceptions of +democracy and republicanism they knew what they meant by the use of +these terms in relation to Indian institutions. + +[9] BANERJEA. p. 46. + +[10] MACDONELL & KEITH, _Vedic Index_, Vol. II, p. 214. + +[11] BANERJEA. p. 95. + +[12] Footnote, _Ibid._, p. 96. Original authority quoted by Mr. BANERJEA +in footnote on p. 103. + +[13] _Ibid._, p. 104. + + + + +III + +THE PRESENT IDEALS + + The wishes, the desires, and the interests of the people of these + countries [speaking of German colonies] themselves must be the + dominant factor in settling their future government. + + DAVID LLOYD GEORGE + + "Causes and Aims of the War." Speech delivered + at Glasgow, on being presented with the freedom + of that city, June 29, 1917. + + +Every nation has a fundamental right to determine, fix and work out her +own ideals. Any interference with this right by individuals or nations +of foreign origin is unnatural and unjust. The consent of the governed +is the only logical and just basis of governments. These principles have +been reiterated with added force and masterly eloquence by President +Wilson in his addresses during the War. They have been accepted and +adopted by the Allied statesmen. No statesman or publicist of standing +in any of the Allied countries can dare question the principles. The +difficulty, however, arises when we come to apply them practically. At +this point the practical politician's genius for diplomacy discovers +flaws that provide excuses for the non-application of those principles +if such course seems helpful to his nation or his sovereign. + +President Wilson has asseverated that "the day of conquest and +aggrandisement is gone," which, in plain language, means that the day of +Imperialism is over. And, in conformity with the principle stated in the +Declaration of Independence, that "All nations have the right to assume +among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which +the laws of nature and nature's God entitle them," President Wilson has +also said that "every people have a right to choose the sovereignty +under which they shall live"; that "national aspirations must be +respected, and that 'self determination' is not a mere phrase; it is an +imperative principle of action, which statesmen will henceforth ignore +at their peril." Yet as _practical men_ we must not ignore the facts of +life. The world is not at once going to be an ideal place to live in +even if it may become one. It may be that the advanced nations of the +earth which just now divide the political and economic control of the +world between themselves may accept the underlying policy of the +following statement (of President Wilson) that + + "This war had its roots in the disregard of the rights of small + nations and of nationalities which lacked the union and the force + to make good their claim to determine their own allegiance and + their own forms of political life." + +and the proposed League of Nations might see that a continuance of the +injustice thus far done to small or backward nations is no longer +permitted. Being practical men, however, we cannot build on the +assumption that at the end of this war the world is at once to be +transformed into a paradise and that full justice will be done to all +nations and all peoples alike. We already notice a tendency to restrict +the application and the enforcement of these principles to the nations +of Europe by the more frequent use of the term "free nations." "Free +nations" do not need to be freed. It will be wise, therefore not to be +carried off our feet by these declarations and statements. Mr. Montagu +and Lord Chelmsford have pointedly reminded us of the Indian saying, +"hanoz Delhi Dúr Ast" (i.e. "Delhi is yet far away"). But even if they +had not done so we were not so simple as to be swept away by the mere +language of the war declarations. The wording of the announcement of +August 20, 1917, itself did not leave us in doubt about the truth of the +saying quoted by Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford. We have, therefore, to +test our ideals and aspirations by the touchstone of practicability and +expediency. Happily for us there is, in theory, at least, a full +agreement between the political goal set up by the Indian Nationalists +of the Congress school (since endorsed by the Home Rulers) and that set +up by the authors of the announcement of August 20th. This goal is +"Self-Government within the Empire on terms of equality with the other +parts of it," in the language of the Congress school or, "Responsible +Government as an integral part of the British Empire," in the language +of the announcement. There is a party of Indian politicians who want +complete independence, but at present their number is so limited that we +need not take serious consideration of their position in the matter. The +vast bulk of the educated classes are agreed: + + (_a_) That they are content to remain within the British Empire if + they are allowed a status of equality with the self-governing + dominions of the Empire. + + (_b_) That what they want is an autonomous Government on the lines + of Canada, Australia and the South African Union. + + (_c_) That they do not want any affiliation with any other Foreign + Government. + +Much has been written and said about the loyalty of the people of India +to the British Government. Opinions, however, differ as to its nature. +Some say it is the loyalty of a helpless people or, in other words, a +loyalty dictated by fear or force. Others say it is the loyalty of +opportunism. The British maintain that the loyalty is the outcome of a +genuine and sincere appreciation of the blessings of the British Empire. +Be that as it may, it is in the interest of both to bring about +circumstances and conditions which would transform this loyalty whatever +its nature into one of genuine affection and interest. The announcement +of August 20, 1917, may be considered as a first step towards the +creation of such loyalty, but much will depend on the steps that are +taken to give practical effect to the policy embodied in the said +announcement and on the spirit in which the proposed reforms are carried +out. Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford's conception of the "eventual +future of India is a sisterhood of states, self-governing in all matters +of purely local or provincial interest, in some cases corresponding to +existing provinces, in others perhaps modified in area according to the +character and economic interests of their people. Over this congeries +of States should preside a Central Government increasingly +representative of and responsible to the people of all of them; dealing +with matters, both internal and external, of common interest to the +whole of India; acting as arbiter in interstate relations and +representing the interests of all India on equal terms with the +self-governing units of the British Empire."[1] The only changes that we +would propose in the language of this statement are (i) the omission of +the word "increasingly" which is rather misplaced in the conception of +an ideal, and (ii) the substitution of the word "Commonwealth" in place +of "Empire." His Highness the Aga Khan considers the use of the term +"responsible" government instead of "self-government" in the +announcement as unfortunate because it carries the technical meaning of +a government responsible for its existence to an assembly elected by the +people. On the other hand, self-government can comprise many and varied +forms of expression of the popular will. Further, he is convinced that +the words "responsible government" were used in order to carry with the +Secretary of State and the Prime Minister some more conservative members +of the small war cabinet. It was camouflaged so that the Executive +government hereafter might contain Englishmen, while at the same time +the administration became sufficiently liberal to be responsible to the +people. With due respect to the Aga Khan we do not see the logical +connection between the two. Responsible government may or may not +involve the necessary inclusion of Englishmen in the Cabinet. Although +we may not approve of the interpretation of the expression +"responsible" government given to it by the authors of the report, in +our judgment its use as an ideal to be attained expresses more forcibly +the right of the people to choose their government than the use of the +general term "self government" would. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Paragraph 349 of the _Report_. + + + + +IV + +THE STAGES + + There is no protection for life, property, or money in a State + where the criminal is more powerful than the law. The law of + nations is no exception, and, until it has been vindicated, the + peace of the world will always be at the mercy of any nation whose + professors have assiduously taught it to believe that no crime is + wrong so long as it leads to the aggrandisement and enrichment of + the country to which they owe allegiance. + + DAVID LLOYD GEORGE + + "No Halfway House." Speech delivered at Gray's + Inn, December 14, 1917. + + +In the chapter on ideals we have shown that there is almost complete +agreement between the bulk of Indian educated men and the British +authorities as to the immediate goal of Government in India. There is no +such agreement, however, as regards the stages by which that goal is to +be reached, nor on the steps which should be immediately taken to carry +us to the first stage. The four formulas by which Mr. Montagu and Lord +Chelmsford profess to be guided in their recommendations are not +accepted in their entirety by the spokesmen of the Indian people. These +formulas are: + + (1) There should be as far as possible complete popular control in + local bodies and the largest possible independence for them of + outside control. (Paragraph 188.) + + (2) The provinces are the domain in which the earlier steps + towards the progressive realization of responsible government + should be taken. Some measure of responsibility should be given at + once, and our aim is to give complete responsibility as soon as + conditions permit. This involves at once giving the provinces the + largest measure of independence, legislative, administrative, and + financial, of the Government of India which is compatible with the + due discharge by the latter of its own responsibilities. + (Paragraph 189.) + + (3) The Government of India must remain wholly responsible to + Parliament, and saving such responsibility, its authority in + essential matters must remain indisputable pending experience of + the effect of the changes now to be introduced in the provinces. + In the meantime the Indian Legislative Council should be enlarged + and made more representative and its opportunities of influencing + government increased. (Paragraph 190.) + + (4) In proportion as the foregoing changes take effect, the + control of Parliament and the Secretary of State over the + Government of India and provincial Governments must be relaxed. + (Paragraph 191.) + +There is no difficulty in accepting the first and the fourth formulas. +There is some complaint that the actual steps recommended for immediate +adoption to give effect to the policy of the first formula are not in +keeping with the spirit of the formula and are inadequate. But this we +can reserve for future consideration. + +No objection can be taken to the first and the last sentences of the +second formula; though there is a great divergence of opinion as regards +the content of the second. It is maintained by some, and their number +is by no means small,[1] that full responsibility should be conceded to +the provinces at once and that there is nothing in the conditions +mentioned in the report which justifies the postponement thereof. + +The third formula, however, is the one about which there is not even a +semblance of agreement. All political parties and all qualified persons +in India (we mean, of course, Indians of Indian origin) are agreed that +the assumptions and presumptions upon which this formula is based are +wrong and unacceptable. Native Indian opinion is fairly unanimous on the +point. + +There are some who claim full autonomy at once. There are others who +claim full autonomy except as regards foreign relations, the control of +native States, the Army and the Navy. All insist that a beginning of +responsible Government must be made in the Central Government also, and +point out the absolute necessity of conceding some measure, even if not +full, of fiscal autonomy. They can see no reason why "the Government of +India must remain wholly responsible to Parliament" and why "its +authority must remain indisputable." On these matters Indian opinion +joins issue with the distinguished authors of the report. We will revert +to the subject in another chapter. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The non-official members of Bengal, Bombay and the United Provinces +have made that demand, which has been endorsed by the Indian National +Congress and the All-Indian Muslim League. + + + + +V + +THE CONDITIONS OF THE PROBLEM + + Let us, at any rate, make victory so complete that national + liberty, whether for great nations or for small nations, can never + be challenged. That is the ordinary law. The small man, the poor + man, has the same protection as the powerful man. So the little + nation must be as well guarded and protected as the big nation. + + DAVID LLOYD GEORGE + + "The Pan-German Dream," Speech delivered at + Queen's Hall on the third anniversary of the + Declaration of War, August 4, 1917. + + +The eminent authors of the report have devoted an entire chapter to a +consideration of what they call the "conditions of the problem." These +may be considered under two different heads: (a) those that necessitate +a rather radical reorganisation of the Government of India; (b) those +that prevent the authors from recommending immediate responsible +government and justify the limitations of their scheme. + + +IMMENSITY OF THE PROBLEM AND THE GRAVITY OF THE TASK + +Before we take up the two sets of facts relied upon by them in support +of either position we may express our general agreement with them as +regards the gravity of the task and the immensity of the problem. The +size of the country and the vastness of its population are the measure +of the extent of the problem. The existence of powerful vested interests +at present possessed by the ruling race which may be interfered with by +extended changes in the system of Government are the measure of its +gravity. "The welfare and happiness of hundreds of millions of people," +which the authors say are in issue cannot be adequately provided for by +any autocratic system of Government however benevolent its purpose, and +however magnificent its organisation. An "absolute government" is an +anachronism, but when it is foreign it is doubly so. To bring out "the +best in the people" for their own "welfare and happiness" as well as for +that of mankind in general, it is necessary that the people should be +free to develop on their own lines, manage their own affairs, evolve +their own life, subject only to such restrictions as the general +interests of humanity demand; and subject to such guidance as the better +placed and more experienced people of the earth can furnish. + +The people of India are willing to be guided in their development +towards modern democracy by the people of Great Britain and they would +be grateful for their coöperation in this difficult task, but they must +be made to realize that the task is their own and that they should +undertake it in a spirit of courageous faith--faith in their destiny, +faith in their ability to achieve it, and faith in the friendship of the +great British nation. The test of all measures in relation to the +Government of India in future should be, not how far the people of +India can coöperate, how far they can be entrusted with responsibility, +but how far it is necessary _in their interests_ to control and check +them. The difference between the two points of view is fundamental and +important. Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford have looked at the problem +from the former point of view; the Indian leaders want them to look at +it from the latter. They want the great British nation to recognise the +justice of India's claim to manage her own affairs, and to keep in their +hands in future only such control as is absolutely necessary (a) to +enable the Indian people to conduct their business efficiently and +successfully, (b) to make them fulfill their obligations to the great +Commonwealth of nations of which they hope soon to be a component part. +As long as British statesmen insist on looking at the problem from the +former point of view, they will make mistakes and raise a not entirely +unreasonable suspicion of their motives. The moment they adopt the other +point of view, they remove all grounds of distrust and create an +atmosphere of friendliness in which they can deal with the problem in a +spirit of mutual trust, absolute frankness and candid perspicacity. +There are many contentions of the British statesmen which the educated +Indians would gladly admit to be valid and necessary were they sure that +their admission would not be used against them by the power whom they +habitually regard as their adversary. There is much in this report which +could at once be struck out if both parties were actuated by feelings of +mutual trust and friendliness. It cannot be denied that many of the +proposed restrictions on the power of the popular assemblies and the +would-be Indian Administrators are the outcome of distrust. It is no +wonder then that the Indian leaders in their turn are not quite sure of +the face value of the many professions of good will that characterise +the scheme. It is for the removal of this distrust that we appeal as +earnestly as we can to the better mind of Great Britain. + +In looking at the conditions of the problem, there is another fallacy +which underlies the oft-exaggerated estimates of the blessings of +British rule in India by British statesmen and British publicists. They +compare the India of today with the India of 1757 and at once jump to +the conclusion that "the moral and material civilisation of the Indian +people has made more progress in the last fifty years than during all +the preceding centuries of their history." The proper comparison is of +the Great Britain, the France, the United States, the Germany, the Italy +and the Japan of 1757, with the India of that year and of India's +progress within the last century and a half, or even within the last 50 +years, with the progress of these countries in the same period. We have +no desire to withhold credit for what Great Britain has done in India, +but what she has misdone or could have done but failed to do, by virtue +of her rule in India being absolute and thus necessarily conditioned by +limitations inevitable in a system of absolute rule, should not be +forgotten. + +The Indian critics of British rule in India have repeatedly pointed out +that what they condemned and criticised was the _system_ and not the +personnel of the Government, and the distinguished authors of the Report +"very frankly recognise that the character of political institutions +reacts upon the character of the people" and that the exercise of +responsibilities calls forth capacity for it (Paragraph 130), which +mainly accounts for the conditions that serve as reasons for withholding +responsible government from the Indian people. In discussing "the basis +of responsibility" Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford very properly point +out that the qualities necessary for it are only developed by exercise +and that though "they are greatly affected by education, occupation and +social organisation" "they ultimately rest on the traditions and habits +of the people." "We cannot go simply to statistics for the measure of +these things." Yet, unfortunately, it is exactly these statistics that +seem to have influenced them largely in the framing of their +half-hearted measures. The two dominating conditions which obsess them +are (1) that the immense masses of the people are poor, ignorant and +helpless far beyond the standards of Europe; and (2) that there runs +through Indian society a series of cleavages--of religion, race and +caste--which constantly threaten its solidarity. + +We admit the existence of these conditions, but we do not admit that +they are an effective bar to the beginnings of responsible government +even on that scale on which European countries had it when the +conditions of life in those countries were no better than they are now +in India. + +It is said that 226 of 244 millions of people in British India live a +rural life: "agriculture is the one great occupation of the people" and +"the proportion of these who even give a thought to matters beyond the +horizon of their villages is very small." We ask did not similar +conditions exist in Great Britain, France and Germany before the +inauguration of the Industrial Revolution, and if they did, did they +stand in the way of their people getting responsible government or +parliamentary institutions? Everyone knows what the conditions in France +were in years immediately preceding the Revolution. Italy was no better +off in the middle of the nineteenth century. Perhaps it is not much +better even today. The masses of the people in these and other countries +of Europe, including Great Britain, were far more ignorant, poor and +helpless when these countries obtained parliamentary government than +they are in India today. And the authors of the report are not unaware +that similar concerns are perhaps the main interests of the population +of some country districts in the United Kingdom even today. In several +of the Balkan States, Roumania, Serbia and Bulgaria--in Italy and in the +component parts of Russia--the conditions are no better, yet their right +to autonomous government, nay, even to absolute independence, is hardly +questioned. Moreover, as has been pointed out by Mr. Sidney Webb, + + "It is a mistake to assume that a land of villages necessarily + means what is usually implied by the phrase, a people of + villagers. In truth, India, for all its villages, has been also, + at all known periods, and to-day still is, perhaps, to a greater + extent than ever before, what Anglo-Saxon England, for instance + was _not_ or the South African Republic in the days before gold + had been discovered, and what the Balkan peninsula even at the + present time may perhaps not be, namely a land of flourishing + cities, of a distinctly urban civilization, exhibiting not only + splendid architecture, and the high development of the + manufacturing arts made possible by the concentration of + population and wealth, but likewise--what is much more + important--a secretion of thought, an accumulation of knowledge, + and a development of literature and philosophy which are not in + the least like the characteristic products of villages as we know + them in Europe or America. And to-day, although the teeming crowds + who throng the narrow lanes of Calcutta or Benares, Bombay or + Poona, Madras or Hyderabad, or even the millions who temporarily + swarm at Hardwar or Allahabad or Puri may include only a small + percentage of the whole population, yet the Indian social order + does not seem to be, in the European understanding of the phrase, + either on its good or on its bad side, essentially one of the + villagers. The distinction may be of importance, because the Local + Government developed by peoples of villages, as we know of them in + Anglo-Saxon England, in the early days of the South African + Republic, and in the Balkan States, is of a very different type + from that which takes root and develops, even in the villages, in + those nations which have also a City life, centers of religious + activity, colleges and universities, and other 'nodal points,' + from which emanate, through popular literature, pilgrimages, and + the newspaper press, slow but far-spreading waves of thought and + feeling, and aspirations which it is fatal to ignore."[1] + +We have also quoted, in the chapter on "Democracy in India," the +statement of Morse Stephens, about the condition of the people of Europe +in the eighteenth century. + + +EDUCATIONAL BACKWARDNESS + +"The Educational returns," remark the authors of the Report, "tell us +much the same story," viz., the appalling dissimilarity of conditions +in Europe and in India. While it is painfully true that the percentage +of illiteracy in India is greater than in any of the countries of +Europe, we cannot admit that that fact is a fatal bar to the beginnings +of responsible government in India or to the granting of a democratic +constitution to the country. Literacy is, no doubt, a convenient, but by +no means a sure index of the intelligence of the people, even much less +of their character. The political status of a country is determined more +by intelligence and character than by literacy. In these the people of +India are inferior to none. By that we do not mean that they are +possessed of the same kind of political responsibility as the people of +the United Kingdom or of France or of Germany or of the United States, +but only that by intelligence and character they are quite fitted to +start on the road to responsible government, at least to such kind as +was conceded for the first time to Canada, Australia, Italy, the Balkan +States, Austria, Hungary, etc. The illiteracy of the masses may be a +good reason for not introducing universal suffrage, but it is hardly a +valid reason for refusing a kind of constitution which may place India +in the same position, in the matter of responsible Government, as Great +Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy and the United States were when +those countries showed the same percentage of illiteracy. Literacy has +nowhere been the test of political power. Burma had almost no illiteracy +when the British took possession of it; its population was absolutely +homogeneous and the solidarity of the nation ran no risk from "cleavages +of religion, race and caste." Even today Burma has the highest figures +of literacy in the whole of British India. In that respect it occupies +a higher position than Roumania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, many of the +Russian States and perhaps even Italy and Hungary and possibly some of +the South American Republics. In the matter of race and religion, too, +its position is better than that of the countries mentioned, yet the +authors of the Report do not propose to concede to it even such +beginnings of responsible government as they are prepared to grant to +the other provinces of India. The fact is that mere literacy does not +play an important part in the awakening of political consciousness in a +people. It is a useful ingredient of character required for the exercise +of political power but by no means essential. + + +POVERTY + +The argument based on poverty is of still less force. On the other hand, +it is the best reason why the people of India should have the power to +determine and carry out their fiscal policy. We hope the admissions made +in Paragraph 135 of the Report which we bodily reproduce[2] will once +for all dispose of the silly statement, so often repeated even by men +who ought to know better, that materially India has been highly +prosperous under British rule. If so, how is it that in the language of +the Secretary of State for India and the Viceroy "enormous masses of the +population have little to spare for more than the necessaries of life"? +What about the prosperity of a province, one of the biggest in India +(the United Provinces), in which the number of landlords (not tenants +and farmers) whose income derived from their proprietary holdings +exceeds £20 ($100 a year, which comes to 30 cents a day for the whole +family), is about 126,000 out of a population of 48 millions! + +Acceptance of the argument of poverty as sufficient to deprive people of +political right is putting a premium on it which is hardly creditable to +the political ethics of the twentieth century. It is the poorest and the +most ignorant in the community who most egregiously suffer at the hands +of autocracy. It is they who require protection from it. The wealthy and +the educated know how to placate the bureaucrat and get what they want. +It is the poor who pay the penalty of political helplessness, yet, +curiously, it is for them and in their interest that the English +Government in India proposes to withhold the power of the purse from the +proposed Indian Councils and insists on denying the Indian people even +the elements of responsible government. While we admit the general +justice and accuracy of the observations made under the head of "extent +of interest in political questions," "political capacity of the rural +population," we fail to see anything in them which justifies the +conclusion that the interests of the classes not politically minded will +be safer in the hands of the British officer, and on the whole better +protected by him than by his educated countrymen who are likely to get +the power in case of responsible government being conceded now. In our +judgment no greater argument for the immediate grant of a substantial +step in the direction of complete responsible government throughout +India and in all spheres of government, could be advanced than what is +involved in the following observation of the authors of the joint +Report: + + "The rural classes have the greatest stake in the country because + they contribute most to its revenues; but they are poorly equipped + for politics and do not at present wish to take part in them. + Among them are a few great landlords and a larger number of yeoman + farmers. They are not ill-fitted to play a part in affairs, but + with few exceptions they have not yet done so. But what is perhaps + more important to appreciate than the mere content of political + life in India is its rate of growth. No one who has observed + Indian life during even the past five years can doubt that the + growth is rapid and is real. It is beginning to affect the large + landholders: here and there are signs of its beginning to affect + even the villages. But recent events, and above all the war, have + given it a new earnestness and a more practical character. Men are + coming to realise more clearly that India's political future is + not to be won merely by fine phrases: and that it depends on the + capacity of her people themselves to face difficulties and to + dispose of them. Hence comes the demand for compulsory education, + for industries, for tariffs, for social reform, for social, public + and even military service." + +In the next paragraph, the authors approvingly give an extract from an +official report in which it is frankly admitted that the rural +population "may not be vocal, but they are certainly not voiceless." The +last meeting of the Indian Congress was attended by 700 farmer +delegates. Thousands of farmers have joined the Home Rule Leagues. The +statement that "hitherto they have regarded the official as their +representative in the Councils of the Government" is entirely devoid of +any truth. In their eyes the official is the Government itself. Some of +them may think that the official _represents_ the Government, but to say +that they regard the official as "_their representative_ in the Councils +of the Government" is a mere travesty of truth. The paragraph on the +"interests of the ryot" bristles with so many unwarranted assumptions +that we must enter an emphatic protest against its misleading nature. + +But it gives us pleasure to accord our whole-hearted support to the +following statement with which the paragraph opens: + + "It is just because the Indian ryot is inarticulate and has not + been directly represented in our deliberations that we feel bound + to emphasise the great claim he has upon our consideration. The + figure of the individual cultivator does not often catch the eye + of the Governments in Simla and Whitehall. It is chiefly in the + mass that they deal with him, as a consumer of salt or of + piece-goods, or unhappily too often as the victim of scarcity or + disease." + +It is true that "the district officer and his lieutenants" are in a +position to know the difficulties that beset the ryot and his very human +needs. But of what good is this knowledge of the district officer and +his lieutenants to him if it has neither provided for the education of +his children nor made any provision for his employment in occupations +other than agriculture; nor saved him from the intricacies of the law; +nor protected him from the ubiquitous salt tax; nor raised his wages +proportionately to the increase of prices; nor yet put him in a position +to assert his human rights and to obtain redress for his human, too +human, wrongs. If we examine a little more carefully the merits of what +is claimed to have been done for him so far by "an official Government," +we will find that the claim is by no means established. + +We have no desire to deny that among the foreign officers of the British +Government in India there are and have been a great many who were +genuinely anxious to help the ryot and do all which is claimed to have +been done for him in this paragraph, but that they have been unable to +do anything worth mentioning will be admitted by every right-minded +official.[3] The reasons for their failure were not of their making. The +laws of the land made by the British legislators fresh from the Inns of +Court, the spirit of the administration and the system of land taxation +have effectively prevented them from doing many of the things which they +might otherwise have liked to do. We are sorry that the eminent +statesmen responsible for the report should have been the unconscious +instruments of producing an entirely wrong impression by the statements +in this paragraph. If the statements are true, India must be a veritable +paradise and the lot of the Indian ryot enviable. But we know, and the +authors of the Report knew it as well, and they have stated in so many +words that it is not so. We can quote any number of authorities to show +that the Indian ryot is the most pitiable figure in the whole length +and breadth of India, if not in the whole world. This is not the place +to quote the easily accessible opinions of eminently qualified and +highly trustworthy British writers and administrators on the subject.[4] +The English official Government has no doubt _professed_ to do all it +claims to have done for the ryot, but how far it has benefited him in +these directions is another story. To ask credit for having provided him +with a system of law "simple, cheap and certain," or for having +established schools and dispensaries within reasonable distance of his +residence; or for even having looked after his cattle, by the provision +of grazing lands; or for having supplied wood for his implements is to +run violently in the face of facts to the contrary. These are verily his +principal complaints against British rule. The official Government is +certainly entitled to some credit for having started the coöperative +credit societies and a few coöperative rural banks for the benefit of +the peasantry, but the reform is so belated and at present plays such an +insignificant part in the rural economy of India that it seems hardly +worth mentioning or discussing.[5] + +But even assuming that the official Government has so far done all that +for the ryot, what reason is there to insinuate that the Government of +the people will fail to do it for him in the future or will not do it so +well as or even better, than has been heretofore done by the +bureaucracy? It is quite a gratuitous assumption that in future he will +be required to do all these things for himself. Even in the most +advanced democracies in the world the peasantry or the masses of the +people do not do these things for themselves. Most of these things are +done by officials. The only difference is that in a responsible +government the officials are the servants of the people while in an +absolute government they are their masters. We are really surprised at +the presumption of the British bureaucrat, in posing as the special +friend of the Indian masses as against their own educated countrymen. +The experience of the past does not support the claim and there is +absolutely no reason to assume that it will be different in the future. +A mere cursory glance at the resolutions of the Indian National Congress +passed continuously for a period of thirty years, will show how +persistently and earnestly the educated classes have been pleading +_inter alia_ for (a) compulsory and free education, (b) for technical +instruction in vocations, (c) for the reduction of the salt tax and the +land tax, (d) for the raising of the minimum incomes liable to income +tax, (e) for the provision of pasture lands, (f) for the comforts of the +third-class railway travelling public, (g) for the milder administration +of the forest laws, (h) for the reform of the Police, etc. All these +years the bureaucracy did nothing for the ryot and now they pose as his +special friends, whose continuance in power and in office is necessary +for his protection from the politically minded middle classes. We are a +friend neither of the landlord nor of the capitalist. We believe that +the ryot and the working men in India as elsewhere are being exploited +and robbed by the classes in possession of the means of production and +distribution. We would wholeheartedly support any scheme which would +open a way to a just and righteous distribution of wealth and land in +India and which would insure the ryot and the working man his rightful +place in the body politic. We would not mind the aid of the foreign +bureaucracy toward that end if we could be sure that the bureaucracy +would or could do it. But we have no doubts in the matter that it cannot +be done. The bureaucracy has so far played into the hands of the +plutocrat. They have served first their own capitalists and then the +capitalists and landlords of India. Some among them have tried to do a +little for the submerged classes, the poor ryot and the ill-paid sweated +laborer, but their efforts were of no consequence. They have failed and +their failure is writ large on the face of the ryot. We are not sanguine +that the politically minded classes when they get power will immediately +rehabilitate the ryot and give him his due. We have no hope of that +kind. Yet we unhesitatingly support the demand of the politically minded +classes for a responsible government in India. In our judgment, that is +the only way to raise the masses to a consciousness of their rights and +responsibilities. The experience of the West tells us that in that way +and in that way alone lies salvation. Political consciousness must +travel from the classes to the masses and the longer the inauguration of +popular Government is delayed, the greater the delay in the awakening of +the ryot and the working man. Absolutism must first give way and +transfer its power to the politically minded classes, then will come the +turn of the masses to demand their rights and compel compliance. We can +see no risk of a greater harm or injury to the masses of India from the +transference of power from the hands of a close bureaucracy of +foreigners into the hands of the educated and propertied oligarchy of +their own countrymen. Even in countries like Great Britain, America and +France it is the educated and the propertied classes who rule. Why then +this hubbub about the impropriety and danger of giving power to the same +classes in India? Why are the representatives of landlordism and +capitalism in the British House of Lords and among the ranks of Imperial +Anglo-Indians so solicitous of the welfare of the Indian masses, when +they have for so long persistently denied justice to the proletariat of +their own country? It is a strange phenomenon to see the champions of +privilege and status, the defenders of capitalism and landlordism, the +advocates of the rights of property, the upholders of caste in Great +Britain, spending so much powder and shot to _protect_ the Indian ryot +from the prospective exploitation of him by the Indian Brahmin and the +Indian Banya[6] (the priest and the capitalist). Let the British Brahmin +and the British Banya first begin by doing justice to the proletariat of +their own country and then it will be time for them to convince the +Indian of their altruism and honesty of purpose in obstructing the +inauguration of responsible government in India in the interests of the +Indian proletariat. In this connection the authors of the Report make +some pertinent observations which deserve to be quoted. After speaking +of "religious animosities and social cleavages" and the duty of +discouraging them the authors say: + + "Nor are we without hope that the reforms will themselves help to + provide the remedy. We would not be misunderstood. Representative + institutions in the West, where all are equal at the ballot box, + have checked but not abolished social exclusiveness. We do not + make a higher claim for similar institutions in India than that + they will help to soften the rigidity of the caste-system. But we + hope that these incidents of it which lead to the permanent + degradation and ostracism of the lowest castes will tend to + disappear in proportion to the acceptance of the ideas on which + the new constitution rests. There is a further point. An + autocratic administration, which does not share the religious + ideas of the people, obviously finds its sole safe ground in + leaving the whole department of traditional social usage severely + alone. In such matters as child-marriage, it is possible that + through excess of caution proper to the regime under which it + works, it may be actually perpetuating and stereotyping customs + which the better mind of India might be brought, after the + necessary period of struggle, to modify. A government, in which + Indians themselves participate, invigorated by a closer touch with + a more enlightened popular opinion, may be able with all due + caution to effect with the free assent or acquiescence of the + Indians themselves, what under the present system has to be + rigorously set aside." + +Nor are the authors unmindful of the effect of free institutions on the +character of the people as they themselves over and over again +recognise. + + "Free institutions have, as we have said, the faculty of reacting + on the adverse conditions in which the start has to be made. The + backwardness of education may embarrass the experiment at the + outset; but it certainly ought not to stop it, because popular + government in India as elsewhere is sure to promote the + progressive spread of education and so a widening circle of + improvement will be set up."[7] + + +Among the authors' reasons for what they call a gradual advance they +state the following also: (a) "We find it freely and widely admitted +that they (i.e. the Indians) are not yet ready." This admission may +legitimately be used against the total withdrawal of all control of +Indian affairs by the Parliament. Firstly, it is questionable whether +any such admission is really "freely and widely" made. Secondly, the +admission justifies the retention of the powers of vital, general +supervision and general control and also the retention of some Europeans +in the higher services, but not the total denial of all responsibility +for maintaining law and order and of all power to control the central +Executive. (b) That the responsibility of India's defence is the +ultimate burden which rests on the Government of India; and this duty is +the last which can be intrusted to inexperienced or unskilful hands. + + "So long as India depends for her internal and external security + upon the army and navy of the United Kingdom, the measure of + self-determination which she enjoys must be inevitably limited. We + cannot think that Parliament would consent to the employment of + British arms in support of a policy over which it had no control + and of which it might disapprove. The defence of India is an + Imperial question: and for this reason the Government of India + must retain both the power and the means of discharging its + responsibilities for the defence of the country and to the Empire + as a whole." + +The defence of India involves, (a) men for the army and the navy, (b) +officers, (c) war materials and war ships, (d) experts in strategy, (e) +money. That India pays for her defense and also contributes towards the +defence of the Empire are facts which cannot be questioned. That she +shall continue to do so in the future may also be assumed. That it is +extremely desirable that in the matter of war supplies she should be +self-dependent has been freely admitted. The permanent Indian army as +constituted in pre-war days contained two-thirds Indians and one-third +British. If the present strength of the Indian army be examined it will +be found that the proportion of British troops is still smaller. There +is absolutely no need of British soldiers in India for the purposes of +defence, but if the British Government wants to keep them as safeguards +against mutiny among the purely Indian army or against the spirit of +rebellion that at any time may exhibit itself among the Indian people, +then the British exchequer must pay for them as it did in the case of +British garrison in South Africa or as the United States does in the +case of American troops in the Philippines. It is adding insult to +injury to argue that we should not only pay for British troops but that +the fact that British troops form a constituent element of the Indian +army should be used against us for denying us full responsibility even +in civil affairs. The armies of the various Asiatic Governments +surrounding India have no European elements in them and the Indian +soldier is as efficient a fighter as is needed as a protection. That the +Indian army should be almost exclusively officered by the British is a +survival of the policy of mistrust, jealousy and racial discrimination +which has hitherto prevailed. It is time that the Indian army should in +future be mainly officered by the Indians. Until that is achieved it +must continue as a tentative measure to be officered by the British, +and the Indian Revenues must bear the burden. But that is hardly any +reason for denying us full responsible government even on the civil +side. The Indians do not desire nor demand the transfer of the control +over the Army or the Navy until the Army is principally officered by the +Indians and an Indian Navy has been built to supplement the Imperial +Navy. From this criticism of the reasons advanced by the authors for a +very mild "advance" (called "gradual") it is with pleasure that we turn +to the brighter side of the picture showing the favorable features of +the situation. The position of the educated Indian is described fairly +and squarely in Paragraph 140. + + "The old assumption that the interests of the ryot must be + confided to official hands is strenuously denied by modern + educated Indians. They claim that the European official must by + his lack of imagination and comparative lack of skill in tongues + be gravely handicapped in interpreting the thoughts and desires of + an Asiatic people.... Our educational policy in the past aimed at + satisfying the few, who sought after English education, without + sufficient thought of the consequences which might ensue from not + taking care to extend instruction to the many. We have in fact + created a limited _intelligentsia_, who desire advance; and we + cannot stay their progress entirely until education has been + extended to the masses. It has been made a reproach to the + educated classes that they have followed too exclusively after one + or two pursuits, the law, journalism or school teaching: and that + these are all callings which make men inclined to overrate the + importance of words and phrases. But even if there is substance in + the count, we must take note also how far the past policy of + Government is responsible. We have not succeeded in making + education practical. It is only now, when the war has revealed + the importance of industry, that we have deliberately set about + encouraging Indians to undertake the creation of wealth by + industrial enterprise, and have thereby offered the educated + classes any tangible inducement to overcome their traditional + inclination to look down on practical forms of energy. We must + admit that the educated Indian is a creation peculiarly of our + own; and if we take the credit that is due to us for his strong + points we must admit a similar liability for his weak ones. Let us + note also in justice to him that the progressive Indian appears to + realise the narrow basis of his position and is beginning to + broaden it. In municipal and university work he has taken a useful + and creditable share. We find him organising effort not for + political ends alone, but for various forms of public and social + service. He has come forward and done valuable work in relieving + famine and distress by floods, in keeping order at fairs, in + helping pilgrims, and in promoting co-operative credit. Although + his ventures in the fields of commerce have not been always + fortunate, he is beginning to turn his attention more to the + improvement of agriculture and industry. Above all, he is active + in promoting education and sanitation; and every increase in the + number of educated people adds to his influence and authority." + +The authors also say: + + "We must remember, too, that the educated Indian has come to the + front by hard work; he has seized the education which we offered + him because he first saw its advantages; and it is he who has + advocated and worked for political progress. All this stands to + his credit. For thirty years he has developed in his Congress and + latterly in the Muslim League free popular convocations which + express his ideals. We owe him sympathy because he has conceived + and pursued the idea of managing his own affairs, an aim which no + Englishman can fail to respect. He has made a skilful, and on the + whole a moderate, use of the opportunities which we have given him + in the legislative councils of influencing Government and + affecting the course of public business, and of recent years, he + has by speeches and in the press done much to spread the idea of a + united and self-respecting India among thousands who had no such + conception in their minds. Helped by the inability of the other + classes in India to play a prominent part he has assumed the place + of leader; but his authority is by no means universally + acknowledged and may in an emergency prove weak." + +In face of these observations about the politically minded classes of +India it is rather unkind of the authors to insinuate later on that in +the interests of the foreign merchant, the foreign missionary and the +European servants of the state it is necessary that the Government of +India should yet remain absolute and that, in the provinces as well, +important branches of the administration should be excluded from the +jurisdiction of the popular assemblies. + +To sum up, while we are prepared to concede that the conditions of the +problem may justify the withholding of absolute autonomy,--political, +fiscal, and military,--for some time, there is nothing in them which can +in any way be deemed sufficient to deny full political, and, if not +complete, at least substantial fiscal autonomy to the Indian people at +once. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Village Government in British India_, by JOHN MATTHAI. Preface by +SIDNEY WEBB, p. xv. + +[2] "The Indian Government compiles no statistics showing the +distribution of wealth, but such incomplete figures as we have obtained +show that the number of persons enjoying a substantial income is very +small. In one province the total number of persons who enjoy an income +of £66 a year derived from other sources than land is 30,000; in another +province 20,000. The revenue and rent returns also show how small the +average agricultural holding is. According to one estimate, the number +of landlords whose income derived from their proprietary holdings +exceeds £20 a year in the United Provinces is about 126,000, out of a +population of forty-eight millions. It is evident that the curve of +wealth descends very steeply, and that enormous masses of the population +have little to spare for more than the necessaries of life." + +[3] See _Punjab in Peace and War_, by S. S. THORBORN, London, 1904. + +[4] They are collected in _England's Debt to India_, by the present +author. New York, B. W. Huebsch, 1917. + +[5] See Sir D. HAMILTON, _Calcutta Review_, July, 1916. + +[6] "Banya" in Hindustan means "trader." + +[7] In this connection the pertinent observations of the AGA KHAN in his +book _India in Transition_ may be read (Chapter XXV), Putnam, New York. + + + + +VI + +THE PUBLIC SERVICES IN INDIA + + The governing consideration, therefore, in all these cases + [speaking of German colonies] must be that the inhabitants should + be placed under the control of an administration acceptable to + themselves, one of whose main purposes will be to prevent their + exploitation for the benefit of European capitalists or + Governments. + + DAVID LLOYD GEORGE + + "The War Aims of the Allies." Speech delivered + to delegates of the Trades Unions, at the + Central Hall, Westminster, January 5, 1918. + + +Until now the European servants of the British Government have ruled +India quite autocratically. The powers delegated to and the discretion +vested in them have been so large that they could do almost anything +they liked. They could make or mar the fortunes of millions; they could +further their happiness or add to their misery by the simple fiat of +their will. The only limitation on their power was their own sense of +duty and justice. That some of them did let themselves go is no wonder. +The wonder is that the instances of unbridled oppression and tyranny +were not more numerous than they have actually been. Speaking of the +European services generally, we have nothing but admiration for their +general character. The particular branch of the Public Services that has +been all along entrusted with the general administration of the country +is known as the Indian Civil Service. It is recruited in England and is +overwhelmingly European in personnel. On April 1, 1913, only forty-six +of the 1319 civilians on the _cadre_ were natives of India. + +Speaking of the executive organizations that have so far ruled India, +the eminent authors of the Report for the reorganization of the +Government of India remark that it may "well be likened to a mere system +of official posts, actuated _till_ now by impulses of its own, but +affected by the popular ideas which impinge on it from three +sources--the British Parliament, the legislative councils and the local +boards." The sentence would have been correct if in place of "but +affected" the authors had said "and affected but little." "The system," +they add, "has in the main depended for its effectiveness on the +experience, wisdom and energy of the services themselves. It has, for +the most part, been represented by the Indian Civil Service which, +though having little to do with the technical departments of government, +_has for over 100 years in practice had the administration entrusted to +its hands, because, with the exception of the offices of the Governor +General, Governors, and some members of the executive councils, it has +held practically all the places involving superior control_. It has been +in effect much more of a government corporation than of a purely civil +service in the English sense. It has been made a reproach to the Indian +Civil Service that it regards itself as the Government; but a view +which strikes the critic familiar with parliamentary government as +arrogant is little more than a condensed truth." [The italics are ours.] + +The Indian Civil Service has thus developed all the characteristics, +good and bad, of a caste. It has been a powerful bureaucracy, as +exclusive, proud, arrogant and self-sufficient,--if not even more +so,--as the original Brahmin oligarchy of the land, except that while +the Brahmin oligarchy had ties of race, religion and culture with the +rest of the population, the Indian Civil Service is almost entirely +composed of aliens. The ancient Brahmins were, however, kept in check by +the military caste. The mutual jealousies of these two castes afforded +some kind of protection to the people in general. But in the case of the +British Indian Civil Service, the military have given entire support to +their civilian fellow-countrymen and have been completely under their +will. + +The Brahmins of India have left a monumental record of their labors. +They produced great thinkers, writers, legislators, administrators and +organizers. In their own time they were as wise, energetic and +resourceful as any bureaucracy in the world has ever been or will ever +be. Yet the system of life they devised cut at the roots of national +vitality. It dried almost all the springs of corporate national life. It +reduced the bulk of the population to a position of complete +subservience to their will, of blind faith in their wisdom, of absolute +dependence on their initiative. It deprived the common people of all +opportunities of independent thought and independent action. It brought +about a kind of national atrophy. And this, in spite of the fact that +they began by imposing a rigorous code of self-denial on themselves and +their class. For themselves they wanted nothing but a life of poverty +and asceticism. Their economic interests were never in theory or in +practice in conflict with those of the rest of the body politic. + +A Brahmin was forbidden to engage in trade or otherwise accumulate +wealth. His life was a life of strict self-abnegation. This cannot be +said of the Indian Civil Servant. He receives a handsome salary for his +services, expects and receives periodic promotion until he reaches a +position which, from an economic point of view, is not unenviable. After +retirement he is free to engage in trade and otherwise accumulate +wealth. But over and above this, what distinguishes an Indian Civil +Servant from an old Brahmin bureaucrat is the fact that in India he +represents a nation whose economic interest may not always be in harmony +with those of the people of India. He is thus supposed to be the +guardian of the interests of his countrymen, and is expected to further +them as much as he can without altogether endangering the safety of +British rule in India. Looked at from this angle, we have no hesitation +in saying that the work of the Indian Civil Service, too, has in its +way, been monumental. As a rule, they have proved capable +administrators, individually honest, hardworking and alert. They have +organized and tabulated India in a way, perhaps, never done before. But +after all has been said in their praise, it cannot be denied that they +have done India even more harm than the Brahmin oligarchy in its time, +did, by the support they lent to economic exploitation of the country by +men of their own race and religion. Now, in this latter respect, we +want to guard against being misunderstood. The Indian Civil Service has, +in the course of about a century, produced a fairly good number of men +who have honestly and fearlessly stood for the protection of Indian +interests against those of people of their own race and religion. In +doing so they have sometimes ruined their own prospects of promotion and +advancement. Whenever they failed in their self-imposed task, and more +often they failed than not, they failed because the authorities at the +top were forced by considerations of domestic and imperial policy to do +otherwise. On the whole, the defects of the bureaucratic administration +were more the defects of the system than of the individuals composing +it. + +The Indian Civil Servant, like the old Brahmin, is autocratic and +dictatorial. He dislikes any display of independence by the people put +under his charge. He discourages initiative. He likes to be called and +considered the _Mai bap_ (mother and father) of his subjects. On those +who literally consider him such he showers his favors. The others he +denounces and represses. This has, in the course of time, led to +national emasculation. That is our chief complaint against the Indian +Civil Service. Of the other services we would rather not speak. They +have by no means been so pure and high-minded as the I. C. S., nor +perhaps so autocratic and dictatorial. The number of men who misused +their powers and opportunities to their own advantage has been much +larger in services other than the I. C. S. Yet they all have done a +certain amount of good work for India; whether one looks at the +engineering works designed and executed by them, or the researches they +have made in the science of healing and preventing disease, or the +risks they have run in preserving order or maintaining peace one cannot +but admire their efficiency and ability. The grievances of the Indian +Nationalists against the Public Services in India may be thus +summarized: + +(_a_) That the services monopolize too much power and are practically +uncontrolled by and irresponsible to the people of the country. + +(_b_) That the higher branches of the services contain too many +foreigners. + +(_c_) That these are recruited in England, and from some of them the +Indians are altogether barred. + +(_d_) That even when doing the same work Indians are not paid on the +same scale as the Europeans. + +(_e_) That the Government has often kept on men of proved inefficiency +and of inferior qualities. + +(_f_) That, considering the economic conditions of India, the higher +servants of the Government are paid on a scale unparalleled in the +history of public administration in the world. + +(_g_) That the interests of the services often supersede those of the +country and the Government. + +(_h_) And last, but not least, that by the gathering of all powers of +initiative and execution in their hands they have emasculated India. + +As regards (_a_) we have already quoted the opinion of the eminent +authors of the report. The principle laid down in the announcement of +August 20, and the scheme proposed are supposed to do away with the +element of irresponsibility. It is obvious that with the introduction of +the principle of popular control into the Government, the power of +individual servants of the executive will not remain what it is now, or +has been in the past. Much that is vested in and done by the service +will be transferred to public bodies elected by popular vote. This will +naturally affect (_b_) and (_c_) also. We will here stop to quote again +from the Report: + + "In the forefront of the announcement of August 20 the policy of + the increasing association of Indians in every branch of the + administration was definitely placed. It has not been necessary + for us, nor indeed would it have been possible, to go into this + large question in detail in the time available for our inquiry. We + have already seen that Lord Hardinge's Government was anxious to + increase the number of Indians in the public services, and that a + Royal Commission was appointed in 1912 to examine and report on + the existing limitations in the employment of Indians.... The + report was signed only a few months after the outbreak of war, and + its publication was deferred in the hope that the war would not be + prolonged. When written, it might have satisfied moderate Indian + opinion, but when published two years later it was criticised as + wholly disappointing. Our inquiry has since given us ample + opportunity of judging the importance which Indian opinion + attaches to this question. While we take account of this attitude, + a factor which carries more weight with us is that since the + report was signed an entirely new policy toward Indian government + has been adopted, which must be very largely dependent for success + on the extent to which it is found possible to introduce Indians + into every branch of the administration." + +The authors of the Report then proceed to state the limitations of the +process, subject to the general remark that at the present moment there +are few Indians (we do not admit this) trained in public life, who can +replace the Europeans, and thus to alter the personnel of a service +must be a long and steady process. They admit that: + + "If responsible government is to be established in India there + will be a far greater need than is even dreamt of at present for + persons to take part in public affairs in the legislative + assemblies and elsewhere; and for this reason the more Indians we + can employ in the public services the better. Moreover, it would + lessen the burden of Imperial responsibilities if a body of + capable Indian administrators could be produced. We regard it as + necessary, therefore, that recruitment of a largely increased + proportion of Indians should be begun at once." + +In the next paragraph they state why, in their judgment, it is necessary +that a substantial portion of the services must continue to be European. +Their reasons may be gathered from the following: + + "The characteristics which we have learned to associate with the + Indian public services must as far as possible be maintained and + the leaven of officers possessed of them should be strong enough + to assure and develop them in the service as a whole. The + qualities of courage, leadership, decision, fixity of purpose, + detached judgment and integrity in her public servants will be as + necessary as ever to India. There must be no such sudden swamping + of any service with any new element that its whole character + suffers a rapid alteration." + +On these grounds they make the following recommendations: + + "I. That all distinctions based on race be removed, and that + appointments to all branches of the public service be made without + racial discrimination" (Paragraph 315). + + "II. That for all the public services, for which there is + recruitment in England open to Europeans and Indians alike, there + must be a system of appointment in India, ... and we propose to + supplement it by fixing a definite percentage of recruitment to be + made in India." + + "III. We have not been able to examine the question of the + percentage of recruitment to be made in India for any service + other than the Indian Civil Service. The Commission recommended + that 25 per cent. of the superior posts of that service should be + recruited for in India. We consider that changed conditions + warrant some increase in that proportion, and we suggest that 33 + per cent. of the superior posts should be recruited for in India, + and that this percentage should be increased by 1-1/2 per cent. + annually until the periodic commission is appointed which will + re-examine the whole subject.... We have dealt only with the + Indian Civil Service, but our intention is that there should be in + all other services now recruited from England a fixed percentage + of recruitment in India, increasing annually." + +Now we must admit that this is certainly a distinct and marked advance +on the existing situation. The Indian Constitutional party, however, +wants to have the percentage of recruitment in India fixed at 50 per +cent., retaining at the same time the annual increase suggested. In our +opinion, this difference is not material, provided the number of posts +to which the rule of percentage is to be applied is substantially +reduced. We may state our position briefly. + +We are of the opinion that the system of administration in India is much +more costly than it should be, considering the sources and the amounts +of Indian revenues. Unless the industries of the country are developed +we can see no new sources of increased taxation. Consequently, to us, +it seems essential that some economy should be effected in the various +departments of the administration. The only way to effect that economy +is to substantially reduce the number of posts on which it is considered +necessary to retain a certain percentage of Europeans. In speaking of +the machinery of the Government of India, the authors of the Report say: + + "_We think we have reason for saying that in some respects the + machinery is no longer equal to the needs of the time._ The normal + work of the departments is heavy. The collective responsibility of + the Government is weighty, especially in time of war. There is + little time or energy left for those activities of a political + nature which the new situation in the country demands. A + legislative session of the Government of India imposes a serious + strain upon the departments, and especially on the members in + charge of them. But apart from the inevitable complexities of the + moment, the growing burden of business, which results from the + changing political conditions of the country, is leading to an + accumulation of questions which cannot be disposed of as quickly + as they present themselves. We find the necessity for reforms + admitted, principles agreed upon, and decisions taken, and then + long delays in giving effect to them. Difficulties are realized, + enquiries are started, commissions report, and then there is a + pause. There is a belief abroad that assurances given in public + pronouncement of policy are sometimes not fulfilled. On this + occasion, therefore, we have taken steps to guard against such + imputations, and to provide means for ensuring the ordered + development of our plans." + + +PRESENT CAUSES OF DELAY + + "267. The main fault for the clogging of the machine does not, we + think, lie altogether with its highly trained engineers. What is + chiefly wanted is some change of system in the directions of + simplicity and speed. _How does it happen that announcements are + made that arouse expectations only to defeat them?_ We know that + it is not from any intention of deluding the public. We suggest + that it is because the wheels move too slowly for the times; the + need for change is realized, but because an examination of details + would take too long, promises are made in general terms, which on + examination it becomes necessary so to qualify with reservations + as to disappoint anticipations, and even to lead to charges of + breach of faith. We suspect that a root-cause of some political + discontent lies in such delays. Now, so far as the provinces are + concerned, we believe that our proposals _for freeing them to a + great extent from the control of the Government of India and the + Secretary of State will improve matters. But the Government of + India are in the worst case_." [The italics are ours.] + +These observations raise an apprehension in our mind that it is proposed +to add to the strength of the services under the Government of India. +We, for ourselves, do not see how it can be otherwise. With the steady +admission of the popular element into the Government of India the +activities of the latter are likely to increase rather than diminish; +the secretarial work of the different departments will expand rather +than contract. The question of questions is how to meet the increased +cost. + +The remedy is the same as was suggested many years ago by Sir William +Hunter, the official historian of India. He said: + +"If we are to give a really efficient administration to India, many +services must be paid for at lower rates even at present. For those +rates are regulated in the higher branches of the administration by the +cost of officers brought from England. You cannot work with imported +labor as cheaply as you can with native labor, and I regard the more +extended employment of the natives, not only as an act of justice, but +as a financial necessity. If we are to govern the Indian people +efficiently and cheaply, we must govern them by means of themselves, and +pay for the administration at the market rates for native labor." + +Now, whatever may be said about the necessity of maintaining a strong +European element in the departments which require initiative, courage, +resourcefulness and all the other qualities of "leadership" they are +certainly not a _sine qua non_ for efficiency in secretarial work. We +can see no reason why, then, the different secretariats of the +Government of India cannot be manned mainly, if not exclusively, by +Indians. Their salaries need not be the same as those now paid to the +Europeans engaged in these departments. May we ask if there is any +country on earth where such high salaries are paid to the secretarial +heads of departments as in India? Secretaries to the Government of India +in the Army and Public works and Legislative departments receive 42,000 +Rs. each ($14,000, or £2800 a year); Secretaries to the Government of +India in the Finance, Foreign, Home, Revenue, Agriculture, Commerce and +Industry and Education departments get Rs. 48,000 a year each ($16,000 +or £3,200); Educational Commissioners from 30 to 36,000 Rs. ($10,000 to +$12,000). + +These secretarial officers are not of Cabinet rank. Besides their +salaries they get various allowances, and the purchasing value of the +rupee in India is much higher than that of 33 cents in the United States +or of 16d. in the United Kingdom, the exchange equivalents of an Indian +rupee. The same remarks may be made about Provincial Secretariats. We do +not ignore the fact that a European who cuts himself away from his +country and people for the best part of his life cannot be expected to +give his time, energy and talents for the compensation he might accept +in his own country, nor that, if the best kind of European talent is +desired for India, the compensation must be sufficiently attractive to +tempt competent men to accept it. In Paragraphs 318 to 322, both +inclusive, the Secretary of India and the Viceroy have put forward a +forceful plea for improvement in the conditions of the European Services +by (_a_) increment in their salaries, (_b_) expediting promotions, and +(_c_) grant of additional allowances, and also by bettering the +prospects of pensions and leave. We are afraid the only way to obtain +the concurrence of Indian public opinion in this matter, if at all, is +by restricting the number of posts which _must_ be held by Europeans. +The _cadre_ of services to which the rule of percentage is to apply must +be reduced in strength, and if Europeans are required for posts outside +these they should be employed for short periods and from an open market. +For example, it seems inconceivable to us why professional men like +doctors, engineers and professors should be recruited for permanent +service. Nor is there any reason why the recruitment should be confined +to persons of British domicile. The Government of India must be run on +business principles. With the exception, perhaps, of the higher posts in +the I. C. S. and in the Army, all other offices should be filled by +taking the supply on the best available terms for short periods and from +open market. By reducing the number of higher posts to which the rule of +percentage should apply, the Government would be reducing the number of +Indian officers who could claim the same salary as is given to their +European colleagues. In our humble opinion, the latter claim is purely +sentimental, and the best interests of the country require that the +administration should be as economical as is compatible with efficiency. +The strength of the different permanent services should be reduced as +much as possible and the deficiency made up by the appointment of the +best persons available at the price which the administration may be +willing to pay, whether such persons be European, Indian or American. +Take the Indian Educational Service, for example. The members start with +a salary of 6000 Rs. a year ($2000 or £400) and rise to about 24,000 Rs. +a year ($8000 or £1600). In the United States, to the best of our +knowledge, few professors, if any, get a salary higher than $7000 or +21,000 Rs. a year. High-class graduates of Harvard, Yale and Columbia +start their tutorial careers at $2000 to $3000 a year, many at $1500 a +year. These men would refuse to go to India on a similar salary. On the +other hand, if a salary of $4000 to $10,000 were offered to a select +few, the services of _the men at the top_ might be had for a short +period. Surely, in the best interests of education, it is much better to +get first-class men on high salaries for short periods than permanently +to have third-class men beginning with smaller salaries and eventually +rising to high salaries and ensuring to themselves life long pensions. +What is true of the Educational Service is similarly, if not equally, +true of the Medical, the Engineering and other scientific services. At +the present time we have men in these technical services who received +their education about twenty or twenty-five years ago and whose +knowledge of their respective sciences is antiquated and rusty. +Apothecaries, absolutely innocent of any knowledge of modern surgery, +are often appointed to the post of Civil Surgeons. No sensible Indian +desires that the present incumbents should be interfered with, except +where it is possible to retire them under the terms of their service. +All engagements should be met honorably. What is needed is that in +future there should be a radical departure in the practice of appointing +non-Indians to responsible posts in India. We do not want to deprive +ourselves of the privilege of being guided in our work by European +talent, nor should we grudge them adequate compensation for their +services. What we object to is (1) racial discrimination; (2) excessive +power being vested in individual officers; (3) the employment of more +than a necessary number of persons of alien origin; (4) the crippling of +the country's resources by burdening its finances with unnecessary +pensions and leave allowances; (5) the continuance of men on service +lists long after their usefulness has disappeared; (6) the filling of +appointments by jobbery, as is now done in the so-called non-regulation +provinces. We, in the Punjab, have been "blessed" by the rule of several +generations of Smiths, Harrys and Jones. Those who failed to pass the I. +C. S. joined the _cadre_ by the back door and received the same +emoluments as those who entered it by competition. It is they who block +the avenues of promotions and not the sons of the soil. + + +COST OF ADMINISTRATION + +On the subject of the cost of administration it will be instructive to +compare the annual salaries allowed to the highest public servants in +India, the United States and Japan. + +The President of the United States, who ranks with the great royalties +of the world in position, gets a salary of $75,000, without any other +allowance. The Prime Minister of Japan gets 12,000 yen, or $6000. The +Viceroy and the Governor General of India gets 250,000 rupees, or +$83,000, besides a very large amount in the shape of various allowances. +The Cabinet Ministers of the United States get a salary of $12,000 each, +the Japanese 8000 yen or $4000, and the Members of the Viceroy's +Council, $26,700 each. + +In the whole Federal Government of the United States there are only +three offices which carry a salary of more than $8000. They are: + + The President of the General Navy Board $13,500 + Solicitor General $10,000 + Assistant Solicitor General $9,000 + +All the other salaries range from $2100 to $8000. In the State +Department all offices, including those of the secretaries, carry +salaries of from $2100 to $5000. In the Treasury Department the +Treasurer gets $8000, three other officers having $6000 each. All the +remaining officials get from $2500 to $5000. In the War Department there +are only two offices which have a salary of $8000 attached: that of +Chief of Staff and that of Quartermaster General. The rest get from +$2000 to $6000. In the Navy Department, besides the President of the +General Board mentioned above, the President of the Naval Examination +Board gets $8000 and so does the Commandant of the Marine Corps. All the +rest get from $6000 downwards. In the Department of Agriculture there is +only one office carrying a salary of $6000. All the rest get from $5000 +downwards. The Chief of the Weather Bureau, an expert, gets $6000. In +the Commerce Department four experts get $6000 each, the rest from $5000 +downwards. + +In Japan the officials of the Imperial Household have salaries ranging +from $2750 to $4000. Officials of the Higher Civil Service get from +$1850 to $2100 a year; the Vice-Minister of State, $2500; Chief of the +Legislative Bureau, $2500; the Chief Secretary of the Cabinet, $2500; +and the Inspector General of the Metropolitan Police, $2500; President +of the Administrative Litigation Court, $3000; President of the Railway +Board, $3750; President of the Privy Council, $3000; Vice-President of +the Privy Council, $2750, and so on. + +When we come to India we find that the President of the Railway Board +gets from $20,000 to $24,000 and that two other members of the Railway +Board get $16,000. Secretaries in the Army, Public Works, and +Legislative Departments get $14,000. Secretaries in Finance, Foreign, +Home, Revenue, Agriculture, Commerce and Industry Departments get +$16,000. The Secretary in the Education Department gets $12,000; Joint +Secretary, $10,000; Controller and Auditor-General, $14,000; +Accountant-General, from $9,000 to $11,000; Commissioner of Salt +Revenue, $10,000; Director of Post and Telegraph, from $12,000 to +$14,000. + +Among the officers directly under the Government of India there are only +a few who get salaries below $7000. Most of the others get from that sum +up to $12,000. + +The United States includes forty-eight States and territories. Some of +them are as large in area, if not even larger, than the several +provinces of India. The Governors of these States are paid from $2500 to +$12,000 a year. Illinois is the only State paying $12,000; five States, +including New York and California, pay $10,000; two, Massachusetts and +Indiana, pay $8000; one pays $7000, and three pay $6000. All the rest +pay $5000 or less. There is only one territory, the Philippines, which +pays a salary of $20,000 to its Governor-General. + +In India the Governors of Madras, Bombay and Bengal each receive +$40,000, besides a large amount for allowances. The Lieutenant-Governors +of the Punjab, the United Provinces, Bihar and Burma get $33,000 each, +besides allowances. The Chief Commissioners receive $11,000 in Bihar, +$18,700 in Assam, $20,700 in the Central Provinces, and $12,000 in +Delhi. The Political Residents in the native States receive from $11,000 +to $16,000, besides allowances. + +In Japan the governors of provinces are paid from $1850 to $2250 per +year, besides allowances varying from $200 to $300. + +The Provincial services in India are paid on a more lavish scale than +anywhere else in the world. In Bengal the salaries range from $1600 for +Assistant Magistrate and Collector to $21,333 to Members of the +Council, and this same extravagance is also true of the other provinces. + +Coming to the Judiciary, we find that Justices of the Supreme Court of +the United States get a salary of $14,500 each, the Chief Justice +getting $15,000; the Circuit Judges get a salary of $7000 each; the +District Judges, $6000. In the State of New York the Judges of the +Supreme Court, belonging to the General Sessions, get from $17,500 and +those of the Special Sessions from $9000 to $10,000 each. City +Magistrates get from $7000 to $8000. In India the Chief Justice of +Bengal gets $24,000; the Chief Justices of Bombay, Madras and the United +Provinces, $20,000 each. The Chief Judges of the Chief Court of the +Punjab and Burma get $16,000 each and the Puisine Judges of the High +Courts the same amounts. + +The Puisine Judges of the Chief Courts receive $14,000. In the Province +of Bengal the salaries of the District and Session Judges range from +$8,000 to $12,000. District Judges of the other provinces get from about +$7000 to $12,000. The Deputy Commissioners in India get a salary in the +different provinces ranging from $6000 to $9000 a year. The +Commissioners get from $10,000 to $12,000. + +In Japan the Appeal Court Judges and Procurators get from $900 to $2500 +a year. Only one officer, the President of the Court of Causation, gets +as much as $3000. The District Court Judges and Procurators are paid at +the rate of from $375 to $1850. It is needless to compare the salaries +of minor officials in the three countries. Since the Indian taxpayer has +to pay so heavily for the European services engaged in the work of +administration, it is necessary that even Indian officers should be paid +on a comparatively high scale, thus raising the cost of administration +hugely and affecting most injuriously the condition of the men in the +lower grades of the government service. The difference between the +salaries of the officers and the men forming the rank and file of the +government in the three countries shows clearly how the lowest ranks in +India suffer from the fact that the highest governmental officials are +paid at such high rates. + +In New York City the Chief Inspector gets $3500 a year; Captains, $2750; +Lieutenants, $2250; Surgeons, $1,750; and Patrolmen, $1,400 each. In +Japan the Inspector General of the Metropolitan Police gets $2500. The +figures of the lower officials are not available. But the minimum salary +of a Constable is $6.50 a month, besides which he gets his equipment, +uniform and boots free. In India the Inspectors General get from $8000 +to $12,000, the Deputy Inspectors General from $6000 to $7200, District +Superintendents of Police from $2666 to $4800, Assistants from $1200 to +$2000, Inspectors from $600 to $1000, Sub-inspectors from $200 to $400, +Head Constables from $60 to $80, Constables from $40 to $48. + +We have taken these figures from the _Indian Year Book_, published by +the _Times of India_, Bombay. We know as a fact that the +Police-Constables in the Punjab are paid from $2.67 to $3.33 per +month--that is, from $32 to $40 per year. The reader should mark the +difference between the grades of salaries from the highest to the lowest +in India as compared with the United States and Japan. While in India +the lowest officials are frightfully underpaid, the highest grades are +paid on a lavish scale. In the other countries of the world this is not +the case. + + +EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT + +In the United States (we quote the figures of New York) the lowest grade +school teachers get a salary of $720, rising to $1500 a year. In the +upper grades salaries range from $1820 to $2260. Principals of +elementary schools receive $3500 and assistants $2500. In the High +Schools salaries range from $900 to $3150, in training schools from +$1000 to $3250. Principals of High Schools and Training Schools receive +$5000 and the same salary is paid to the District Superintendent. The +Commissioner of Education in New York gets $7500. + +In Japan the Minister of Education, who is a Cabinet Minister, gets +$4000, and the lowest salaries paid to teachers range from $8 to $9 per +month. In the United States College Professors make from $3000 to $5000 +per year, a few only getting higher sums. In Japan salaries range from +$300 to $2000. Coming to India we find that while the Administrative +officials and even the College Professors get fairly high salaries, the +teachers in the schools are miserably underpaid. + +Even the _Times of India_, an Anglo-Indian newspaper published in +Bombay, has recently commented on the colossal difference between the +salaries allowed at the top and those allowed at the bottom. Yet +recently the Secretary of State has been sanctioning higher leave +allowances to the European officers of the Indian Army. + +The Secretary of State for India in Council has approved, with effect +from January 1, 1919, the following revised rates of leave pay for +officers of the Indian Army and Indian Medical service granted leave out +of India: + + INDIAN ARMY + + per annum + On appointment £200 + After completion of 3 years' service 250 + " " 6 " " 300 + " " 9 " " 350 + " " 12 " " 400 + " " 15 " " 450 + " " 18 " " 500 + " " 21 " " 550 + " " 24 " " 600 + " " 27 " " 650 + " " 29 " " 700 + + INDIAN MEDICAL SERVICE. + + On appointment 300 + After completion of 3 years' service 350 + " " 6 " " 400 + " " 9 " " 450 + " " 12 " " 500 + " " 15 " " 550 + " " 18 " " 600 + " " 21 " " 650 + " " 24 " " 700 + + + + +VII + +THE INDIAN ARMY AND NAVY + + The real enemy is the war spirit fostered in Prussia. It is an + ideal of a world in which force and brutality reign supreme, as + against a world, an ideal of a world, peopled by free democracies, + united in an honourable league of peace. + + DAVID LLOYD GEORGE + + "The Destruction of a False Ideal." Speech + delivered at the Albert Hall on the launching + of the New War Economy Campaign, October 22, + 1917. + + When the Indian troops first arrived in October, 1914, the + situation was of so drastic a nature that it was necessary to call + upon them at once to re-enforce the fighting front and help to stem + the great German thrust. Their fine fighting qualities, tenacity, + and endurance were well manifested during the first Battle of Ypres + before they had been able to completely reorganize after their + voyage from India. + + LORD FRENCH, the First + Commander-in-Chief of + British forces on the + Western front. + + The full story of the Palestine victory still remained to be told, + BUT WHEN THE RECORD OF THAT GLORIOUS CAMPAIGN WAS UNFOLDED, ACROSS + THE PAGE OF HISTORY WOULD BE WRIT LARGE THE NAME OF INDIA. + + LORD CHELMSFORD, the + Governor-General of India, + on September 26, 1918. + + As is usual in our history, we have triumphed after many sad + blunders and in the end we have defeated Turkey almost + single-handed, though our main forces have throughout the war been + engaged with another foe. In fact, IT IS TO INDIA THAT OUR RECENT + VICTORY IS DUE.... + + MAJOR GENERAL SIR + FREDERICK MAURICE in + _The New York Times_, + November 6, 1918. + + +The present Governor of the Punjab (his precise designation is +Lieutenant Governor), who is the most reactionary, self-complacent and +conceited of all the provincial rulers of India, has in the course of +his appeals for recruits for the present war said more than once that +the right of self-government carries with it the responsibility of +defending the country. The distinguished authors of the Report have also +remarked in one place that so long as the duty of defending India rests +on Great Britain, the British Parliament must control the Government of +India. Now let us see what the facts are. + +(1) The first thing to be remembered in this connection is that during +the whole period of British rule in India, not a penny has been spent by +Great Britain for Indian defence. The defence of India has been well +provided for by Indian Revenues. On the other hand India has paid +millions in helping Great Britain not only in defending the Empire, but +in extending it.[1] Whatever protection has been afforded to India by +the British Navy--and that has by no means been small--has been more +than repaid by India's services to the Empire in China, Egypt, South +Africa and other parts of the world. As to the military forces of India, +they consist of two wings: (_a_) the British and (_b_) the Indian. The +pre-war Indian army consisted of 80,000 British and 160,000 Indians. +Indian public opinion has for decades been protesting against the denial +to Indians of officers' commissions in the Indian army, as also against +the strength of the British element therein. Every British unit of the +Indian army from the Field Marshal to the Tommy is paid for his services +by India. India pays for these services not only during the time they +form part of the Indian army but also for their training and equipment. +It pays all their leave, transfer and pension charges. It even pays for +whatever provision is made in England for their medical relief, etc. In +the line of the military and naval defence of India, Great Britain has +not done as much for India as she has done for the dominions and +self-governing colonies. Under the circumstances it is adding insult to +injury to insinuate that India has in any way shirked the duty of +providing for her defence. We will say nothing of India's services +during the war. + +In the military defence of India, the contribution of the Punjab has +always been the greatest. If the British provinces are considered +singly, it will be found that the Punjab has been supplying the largest +number of units for the Indian army, not only in the ranks of the +fighters, but also in the ranks of auxiliaries. During this war, too, +the Punjab made the largest contribution of both combatants and +non-combatants. Yet, if we compare the civil status of the people of the +Punjab with that of other provinces, we will find that they have been +persistently denied equality of status with Bengal, Bombay and Madras. +The Punjab peasantry, which supplies the largest number of soldiers to +the army, is the most illiterate and ignorant of all the classes of +Indian population. Their economic and legal position may better be +studied in Mr. Thorborn's _The Punjab in Peace and in War_. The +Municipal and Local Boards of the province do not possess as much +independence as has been conceded in the other provinces. The judicial +administration of the province is as antiquated as it could possibly be +under British rule. Instead of a High Court we have still a Chief +court.[2] Captains and Majors and Colonels are still performing judicial +functions as magistrates and judges. The trial by jury in the cases of +Indians is unknown. Until lately the Punjab was stamped with the badge +of inferiority by being called a non-Regulation province. Even in this +report the Secretary of State for India and the Viceroy have spoken of +it as a backward province. It will thus be seen that the contribution of +the Punjab to the military strength of the Empire has in no way +benefited her population in getting better opportunities for civil +progress or greater civil liberties. But recently the President of the +Punjab Provincial Conference uttered hard words against the Provincial +administration's policy of repression and coercion. He said that their +"cup of disappointment, discontent and misery, in the Punjab, at any +rate, was full to overflowing." + +So much about the discharge of obligations for military defence carrying +with it the right of self-government. The Indians have no desire to +shirk their responsibility for the military defence of India; nor do +they want to balk their contribution to the Imperial defence. Their +demands in this respect may be thus summarised: + + (1) That the Indian Army should be mainly officered by the + Indians. + + (2) That as much as is possible of the arms and ammunition + equipment, and the military stores required for the Indian army be + produced in India. + + (3) That the strength of the British element be considerably + reduced. + + (4) That the nature of the Indian army, which is at present one of + hired soldiers, be converted into that of a National Militia with + a small standing army and a great reserve. + + (5) That in order to do it, some kind of compulsory military + training be introduced. All young men between the ages of 17 and + 21 may be required to undergo military training and put in at + least one year of military service. + + (6) That as a preliminary step towards it the existing Arms Act be + repealed and, under proper safeguards, the people be allowed to + carry and possess arms in peace and war, so as to be familiar with + their use. + + (7) That slowly and gradually, as funds can be spared from the + other demands more urgent and pressing, an Indian Navy be built. + +Having explained the position of the Indian Nationalist in this matter, +we will now see what Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford say on this matter +in their report. In Paragraph 328 they state the "Indian wishes" and +point out that "for some years Indian politicians have been urging the +right of Indians in general to bear arms in defence of their country"; +and that "we have everywhere met a general demand from the political +leaders for extended opportunities for military service," but that the +subject being more or less outside the scope of their enquiry and +"requirements of the future" being dependent "on the form of peace which +is attained," they "leave this question for consideration hereafter with +the note that it must be faced and settled." + +In Paragraph 330 they deal with the question of "British Commissions for +Indians." + + "The announcement of his Majesty's Government that 'the bar which + has hitherto prevented the admission of Indians to commissioned + rank in His Majesty's Army should be removed' has established the + principle that the Indian soldier can earn the King's commission + by his military conduct. It is not enough merely to assert a + principle. We must act on it. The services of the Indian army in + the war and the great increase in its numbers make it necessary + that a considerable number of commissions should now be given. The + appointments made so far have been few. Other methods of + appointment have not yet been decided on, but we are impressed + with the necessity of grappling with the problem. We also wish to + establish the principle that if an Indian is enlisted as a private + in a British unit of His Majesty's Army its commissioned ranks + also should be open to him." + +The "other methods of appointment" that have been announced since the +report was signed are far from satisfactory. It has been said that the +responsibility for this niggardly policy in the matter of admitting +Indians to the Commissioned ranks of the army rests with the Home +Government and that the Indian Government's recommendations were much +more liberal. Now, as practical men, we fully realize that for some time +to come, at least until British suspicion of India's desire to get out +of the Empire is completely removed by the grant of responsible +government to India, India's military policy and the Indian army must be +controlled by the British executive. On that point all the parties in +India are agreed. But it is absolutely necessary that some steps be at +once taken to remove the stigma of military helplessness from India's +forehead. Let the British retain the control and the command, but let us +share the responsibility to some extent and let our young men be trained +for the future defence of their Motherland. To deprive them of all means +of doing that, to charge them with neglect of that paramount duty and +then to urge it as a disqualification of civil liberties, is hardly +fair. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] See chapter on "How India has helped England make her Empire," in +_England's Debt to India_, by the present author. + +[2] It has now been converted into a High Court. + + + + +VIII + +THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY IN INDIA + + The old world, at least, believed in ideals. It believed that + justice, fair play, liberty, righteousness must triumph in the + end; that is, however you interpret the phrase, the old world + believed in God, and it staked its existence on that belief. + Millions of gallant young men volunteered to die for that divine + faith. But if wrong emerged triumphant out of this conflict, the + new world would feel in its soul that brute force alone counted in + the government of man; and the hopelessness of the dark ages would + once more fall on the earth like a cloud. + + DAVID LLOYD GEORGE + + "No Halfway House." Speech delivered at Gray's + Inn, December 14, 1917. + + +A whole section of the Report has been devoted to a consideration of the +claims of the European Community in India. It is said: + + "We cannot conclude without taking into due account the presence + of a considerable community of non-official Europeans in India. In + the main they are engaged in commercial enterprises; but besides + these are the missions, European and American, which in furthering + education, building up character, and inculcating healthier + domestic habits have done work for which India should be grateful. + There are also an appreciable number of retired officers and + others whose working life has been given to India, settled in the + cooler parts of the country. When complaints are rife that + European commercial interests are selfish and drain the country of + wealth which it ought to retain, it _is well to remind ourselves + how much of India's material prosperity is due to European + commerce_." [The italics are ours]. + +We have no desire to raise a controversy over the assumption which +underlies the last statement in the above extract. The authors are +themselves cognizant of it when they remark, later on, that the +"benefit" which India has received by her commercial development in +European hands is "not less because it was incidental and not the +purpose of the undertaking." These are matters on which the Indian +Nationalist may well hold his own opinion and yet endorse the spirit of +the following observations: + + "Clearly it is the duty of British Commerce in India to identify + itself with the interests of India, which are higher than the + interests of any community; to take part in political life; to use + its considerable wealth and opportunities to commend itself to + India; and having demonstrated both its value and its good + intentions, to be content to rest like other industries on the new + foundation of Government in the wishes of the people. No less is + it the wish of Indian politicians to respect the expectations + which have been implicitly held out; to remember how India has + profited by commercial development which only British capital and + enterprise achieved; to bethink themselves that though the capital + invested in private enterprises was not borrowed under any + assurance that the existing form of government would endure, yet + the favourable terms on which money was obtained for India's + development were undoubtedly affected by the fact of British rule; + and to abstain from advocating differential treatment aimed not so + much at promoting Indian as at injuring British commerce." + +We must say that the last insinuation is perfectly gratuitous. Nor is it +correct to say even by implication that the non-official European +community has hitherto abstained from taking part in politics. The fact +is that Indian politics have hitherto been too greatly dominated by the +British merchant both at home and in India. The British merchant doing +business in India had to submit to the prior claims of the British +manufacturers in Great Britain in matters in which their interests did +not coincide, but otherwise their interests received the greatest +possible attention from the Government of India. In proportion to their +incomes derived from India by the employment of Indian labour on terms +more or less guaranteed to them by the Indian Government's special +legislation they have made the smallest possible contribution to the +Indian Revenues; yet they have been the greatest possible hindrance in +the development of Indian liberties. They have all the time owned a +powerful press which has employed all the resources of education and +enlightenment, all the powers of manipulating facts and figures in +maintaining and strengthening the rule of autocracy in the country. We +do not propose to open these wounds. But we cannot help remarking that +so far they have exercised quite a disproportionate influence in the +decisions of the Government of India. Those of them who are domiciled in +the country are our brothers and no Indian has the least desire to do +anything that will harm them in any way. Their importance must, in +future, be determined not by their race or colour or creed but by their +numbers, their education and their position in the economic life of the +country. They must no longer lord it over the Indians simply because +they are of European descent. They should claim no preferences or +exemptions because of that fact. As an integral part of the Indian body +politic they are entitled to all the consideration which they deserve by +virtue of their intellectual or economic position. They should +henceforth be Indo-British both in spirit and in name. They will find +the Indians quite ready to forget the past and embrace them as brothers +for the common prosperity of their joint country. + +As regards the other European merchants who are not domiciled in India +but are there just to make money and return to spend it in their native +land, they are no more entitled to any place in the political machinery +of the Indian Government than the Hindus who trade in the United States +or in England. So far every European, of whatever nationality he might +be, has occupied a position of privilege in India. He was granted rights +which were denied to the sons of the soil. Every German or Austrian or +Bulgarian could keep or carry any number and kind of arms he wanted +without any license, while the natives of India, even of the highest +position, could not do so unless exempted either by virtue of their rank +or by the favour of the Administration. Jews and Armenians, Turks and +Russians, Scandinavians, Danes, Italians and Swiss all enjoyed the +privilege. When charged with any serious offence punishable by +imprisonment for more than six months, they could claim trial by a jury +having a majority of Europeans on it, while no Indian outside the +Presidency towns of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras had that right. Even +there, the jury trying an Indian could include a majority of Europeans. +In the famous trial of Mr. B. G. Tilak in 1908, the jury was composed of +seven Europeans and two Parsees. It is obvious that these +discriminations in favour of the Europeans must cease and that no +European not domiciled in India should enjoy a position of special +privilege. Indians are noted for their hospitality and chivalry. Their +own codes of honor effectively prevent them from doing any harm or +injury to a foreigner. Every European doing business in India or on any +other errand is a guest of honor and entitled to that treatment, +provided he does not assume racial superiority and look down upon the +people of the country and take advantage of their being subjects of a +European power. No Indian will be so foolish as to injure the commercial +development of his country by scaring the foreign trader or the foreign +capitalist. All that he wants is freedom to lay down the terms on which +that trade will be carried on consistently with the interests of India's +millions. What he stands for is equality and reciprocity. As other +peoples are free to name the conditions on which the foreign trader may +do business in their countries, so must the Indians be. Nothing more and +nothing less than this is demanded. + +As regards the citizens of the British Empire also, the same right of +reciprocity is demanded. We are glad that the representatives of the +Dominions have recognized the justice of that claim and expressed their +willingness to concede it. + +Coming to the Missions, European and American, the advice given is +rather gratuitous. The Indians have left nothing undone to show their +gratitude to them for the good work done by them in spite of the fact +that they, too, in the past, have not hesitated to use the fact of their +race and colour for the benefit of their propaganda. The person of a +religious man is sacred in the eyes of an Indian, regardless of his +particular creed. The Christian missionary has so far enjoyed a unique +position of safety and freedom in the country even to a greater extent +than the Hindu or the Moslem priest. The latter have often quarrelled +amongst themselves, but the former they have always respected and +honored. There is absolutely no reason to think that this is likely to +change in any way by the grant of political liberty to the Indians. + +It is possible, however, that, with the growth of free thought in India, +religious teachers of all denominations may not continue to be the +recipients of the same honour as has been paid to them in the past by +virtue of their religious office. Dogmatic religion, whether it be +Hinduism, Mohammedanism or Christianity is in a state of decay. In that +respect India is feeling the reaction of world forces and no amount of +political coercion or repression can stop it. In my humble judgment the +average Indian has thus far been more tolerant of and more considerate +to the Christian missionary than the latter has been to the Indian. Even +in the matter of gratitude the Christian missionary may with advantage +learn from the Hindu. The instances are not rare in which all the +hospitality, respect and honor which a Christian missionary has +received during his stay in India have been repaid by the latter's +freely traducing the character of the Indians in his home land. To no +small degree is the Christian missionary responsible for the feeling of +contempt with which the Indian is looked down upon in America and other +countries of the West. We do not object to his speaking the truth, but +it is not the truth that he always speaks. Of gratitude, at least, he +gives no evidence. + + The European Community in India is divided into two classes: (a) + pure Europeans, who number a little less than 200,000 in the total + population of 315,000,000. (178,908 in the British provinces and + 20,868 in the native States.) + + (b) Anglo-Indians, hitherto called Eurasians, who number about + 83,000 (68,612 in British territories and 15,045 in the Native + States). Thus the whole European community in India is less than + 300,000. + + + + +IX + +THE NATIVE STATES + + +The Native States of India constitute one of the anomalies of Indian +political life. They are the honored remnants of the old order of +things--an order in which personal bravery, resourcefulness and +leadership with or without capacity for successful intrigue enabled +individuals to carve out kingdoms and principalities for themselves and +their legal successors. + +In the case of some of these Native States the genealogies of the ruling +houses go back to the early centuries of the Christian era by historical +evidence and to pre-Christian times by tradition. Their origin is +somewhat shrouded in mystery. In popular belief they are the descendants +of gods--gods of light and life, the Sun and the Moon. Next to the Royal +family of Japan, they are perhaps the only houses among the rulers of +the earth which can claim such an ancient and unbroken lineage of +royalty with sovereignty of one kind or another always vested in them. +There have been times in their history when the royal heads of these +states had no house to live in and no bed to sleep on, much less a +territory to rule and an army to command. This was, however, a part of +their royalty. In struggles against powerful enemies, sometimes of their +own race and religion, but more often foreign aggressors of different +blood and creed, they were many a time worsted and driven to extreme +straits of poverty and helplessness. In peace or in war, in prosperity +or in misery, they never gave up the struggle. Their right to lead their +people and to rule their country they never yielded for a moment. It is +true that sometimes they submitted to the superior power of the enemy +and accepted a position of subordination, though in one case, at least, +even this was done only for a short time under the Moguls. In the darker +days of Indian history, when the military devastation of foreign +invaders left nothing but tears and blood, ruin and ashes, defeat and +misery in their track, these houses kept the lamp of hope burning. For +full ten centuries they carried on a struggle of life and death, +sometimes momentarily succumbing before the overwhelming force of their +adversaries, but only to rise again in fresh vigor and life to reclaim +their heritage and preserve their own and their country's independence. + +The _Sessodias_ of Mewar called the _Ranas_ of Mewar (Udaipur) and the +Rahtores of Marwar (including Jodhpur, Bikaner, Rutlam, Kishangarh and +Alwar) have written many a glorious page of Mediaeval Indian history and +dyed it with their own blood as well as that of their adversaries. Not +only their men but their women have made themselves immortal by their +bravery, chivalry, purity and self-immolation. The one thing which +distinguishes the Indian Rajput from the peoples of other lands is that +he has never waged war against the poor, the helpless and the +defenceless. Numberless men gave their lives freely and ungrudgingly not +only in protecting the lives of their own women and children but also in +doing the same service to the women and children of their enemies. The +Rajput never fought an unfair fight. He never took advantage of the +helplessness of his enemy and always gave him right of way and the use +of his best weapons for a free and fair fight in the open. Anyone +desirous of knowing their deeds may read them in that poem in prose, +known as the Annals of Rajhasthan by Col. Todd. Col. Todd has drawn a +most faithful and thrilling picture of Rajput bravery and Rajput +chivalry in a language worthy of the best traditions of English +literature. Here and there in matters of minor details his authority has +been questioned; otherwise the results of his monumental labors still +remain the best picture of Rajput India. The Rajput States of India are +thus the objects of reverent honor to the 220 million Hindus of that +country. Next to the Rajput States comes the native ruling family of +Mysore as the representative of a very ancient Hindu Kingdom. The +Mahratta States are the remnants of the Mahratta Empire and the Sikhs +those of the Sikh Commonwealth. The biggest of all the Indian Native +States, Hyderabad, arose out of the ruins of the Mogul Empire and is +supposed to be the most powerful guardian of Moslem culture and +tradition. From this description the reader will at once see why the +Native States are so dear to the peoples of India and why the Indian +educated party has always stood by the Native States, whenever either +their treaty rights or the personal dignity and status of their chiefs +was threatened by the British authorities. Lord Dalhousie's policy of +annexation by lapse was so much resented by the people of India that it +had almost cost the British their Indian Empire. Only in the Native +States do the Indians see remaining traces of their former +independence. That fact alone covers all the defects of native rule or +misrule in the States, in their eyes. Some of these Native States have +been so well administered that in education, social reform and +industrial advancement they are far ahead of the neighboring British +territories. But their chief merit lies in the fact that ordinarily the +people get enough food to eat and are seemingly happier than British +subjects. This fact has been noticed by several competent observers of +contemporary Indian life, among them the Right Honorable Mr. Fisher, +President of the Board of Education in England. In his book _The Empire +and the Future_ he has observed: + + "My impression is that the inhabitants of a well governed native + state are on the whole happier and more contented than the + inhabitants of British India. _They are more lightly taxed_; the + pace of the administration is less urgent and exacting; their + sentiment is gratified by the splendor of a native court and by + the dominion of an Indian government. They feel that they do + things for themselves instead of having everything done for them + by a cold and alien benevolence." (Italics are ours) + +But after all that is favourable to the Native States of India has been +said, their existence in their present form remains a political anomaly. +As at present situated, they are an effective hindrance to complete +Indian unity. Although "India is in fact as well as by legal definition, +one geographical whole," yet these Native States, occupying about +one-third of the total area of the country and with a population of +about 70 million will, for a long time, prevent its becoming a +homogeneous political whole. Thus a circumstance which was hitherto +looked upon as a piece of good luck will operate as a misfortune. + + "The Native States of India are about 700 in number. They embrace + the widest variety of country and jurisdiction. They vary in size + from petty States like Rewa, in Rajputana, with an area of 19 + square miles, and the Simla Hill States, which are little more + than small holdings, to States like Hyderabad, as large as Italy, + with a population of thirteen millions."[1] + +The general position as regards the rights and obligations of the Native +States has been thus summed up by the distinguished authors of the joint +Report (Lord Chelmsford and Mr. Montagu): + + "The States are guaranteed security from without; the paramount + power acts for them in relation to foreign powers and other + States, and it intervenes when the internal peace of their + territories is seriously threatened. On the other hand the States' + relations to foreign powers are those of the paramount power; they + share the obligation for the common defence; and they are under a + general responsibility for the good government and welfare of + their territories." + +As regards the assimilation of the principles of modern life, it is +remarked in the same document: + + "Many of them have adopted our civil and criminal codes. Some have + imitated and even further extended our educational system.... They + have not all been equally able to assimilate new principles. They + are in all stages of development, patriarchal, feudal or more + advanced, while in a few states are found the beginnings of + representative institutions. The characteristic features of all of + them, however, including the most advanced, are the personal rule + of the Prince and his control over legislation and the + administration of justice." + +Under the circumstances the question of questions is how these +territories are going to fall into line with the British controlled area +in the matter of the development of responsible Government. We will once +more quote the opinion of the Secretary of State for India and the +Viceroy, who say: + + "We know that the States cannot be unaffected by constitutional + development in adjoining provinces. Some of the more enlightened + and thoughtful of the Princes, among whom are included some of the + best known names, have realised this truth, and have themselves + raised the question of their own share in any scheme of reform. + Others of the Princes--again including some of the most honored + names--desire only to leave matters as they are. We feel the need + for caution in this matter. It would be a strange reward for + loyalty and devotion to force new ideas upon those who did not + desire them; but it would be no less strange, if out of + consideration for those who perhaps represent gradually vanishing + ideas, we were to refuse to consider the suggestions of others who + have been no less loyal and devoted. Looking ahead to the future + we can picture India to ourselves only as presenting the external + semblance to some form of 'federation.' The provinces will + ultimately become self-governing units, held together by the + central Government which will deal solely with matters of common + concern to all of them. But the matters common to the British + provinces are also to a great extent those in which the Native + States are interested--defence, tariffs, exchange, opium, salt, + railways and posts and telegraphs. The gradual concentration of + the Government of India upon such matters will therefore make it + easier for the States, while retaining the autonomy which they + cherish in internal matters, to enter into closer association with + the central Government if they wish to do so. But though we have + no hesitation in forecasting such a development as possible, the + last thing that we desire is to attempt to force the pace. + Influences are at work which need no artificial stimulation. All + that we need or can do is to open the door to the natural + developments of the future." + +In Paragraphs 302 to 305 the authors of the Report state the process by +which this development may be expedited. Disavowing any intention of +forcibly altering treaty rights, they propose to classify the States +into (_a_) those that have "full authority over their internal affairs," +(_b_) those "in which Government exercises through its Agents large +powers of internal control," (_c_) those who are really no more "than +mere owners of a few acres of land." It is further pointed out that +hitherto the + + "general clause which occurs in many of the treaties to the effect + that the Chief shall remain absolute Ruler of his country has not + in the past precluded and does not even now preclude 'interference + with the administration by Government through the agency of its + representatives at the Native Courts.' We need hardly say that + such interference has not been employed in wanton disregard of + treaty obligations. During the earlier days of our intimate + relations with the States British agents found themselves + compelled, often against their will, to assume responsibility for + the welfare of the people, to restore order out of chaos, to + prevent inhuman practices, and to guide the hands of a weak or + incompetent Ruler as the only alternative to the termination of + his rule. So too, at the present day, the Government of India + acknowledges as trustee, a responsibility (which the Princes + themselves desire to maintain) for the proper administration of + States during a minority, and also an obligation for the + prevention or correction of flagrant misgovernment." + +And also that: + + "the position hitherto taken up by Government has been that the + conditions under which some of the treaties were executed have + undergone material changes, and the literal fulfilment of + particular obligations which they impose has become impracticable. + Practice has been based on the theory that treaties must be read + as a whole, and that they must be interpreted in the light of the + relation established between the parties not only at the time when + a particular treaty was made, but subsequently." + +On these grounds it is proposed to establish a Council of Princes to +which questions which affect the States generally or are of concern to +the Empire as a whole, or to British India and the States in common, may +be referred for advice and opinion. So long as the Princes do not +intervene either formally or informally in the internal affairs of +British India, we have no objection to the scheme. On the other hand, we +do hope some method will be found by which, with the consent of the +parties interested the smaller principalities scattered all over the +country may, for administrative purposes, be merged either in the +British area or in the bigger Native States which possess full power of +autonomy over their internal affairs. In the long run it will be +comparatively easy to convert the latter to an acceptance of the modern +principles of government if the number of Native States is reduced and +their people achieve that solidarity which comes by community of +interests and ideas. In this connection it is a happy augury for the +future that some of the highest Chiefs like those of Mysore, Baroda, +Gwaliar, Indore, Kashmir, Bikaner, Jodhpore, Alwar, and Patiala are +alive to the importance of marching with the times. The people of +British India owe them a great debt of gratitude for the moral support +they have given to their claim for responsible Government by coming out +openly and freely in favour of the proposed advance. We are sure that +these Princes will in due time take measures to bring their own +territories in line with the British provinces and thus strengthen the +ties that bind them to their own peoples as well as to the other people +of India. After all, there can be no manner of doubt, as the authors of +the report predict, + + "that the processes at work in British India cannot leave the + States untouched and must in time affect even those whose ideas + and institutions are of the most conservative and feudal + character." + +It is the path of wisdom and sagacity to recognise the world forces that +are at work. No amount of ancient prestige can prevent the people from +coming into their own. The age of despotism is gone and the autocrats of +today must sooner or later hand over their powers to the people. The +more they conciliate them the longer perhaps they may be able to lead +them. They may continue as leaders for a long time, but as autocratic +dispensers of favours and fortunes they cannot remain, perhaps not even +for their life time. + +In our judgment this part of the Montagu-Chelmsford Report is no less +important for the future of Indian democracy than the others that +directly deal with British India, and we hope that whatever might be +the policy as regards the existing States the new law will make it +impossible for the Government of India and the Secretary of State to +create any new States in the future. It is monstrous to transfer +millions of human beings from one kind of political rule to another like +so many cattle, as was done in 1911. The present rule of any Indian +Maharaja may be as good or as bad as that of a British Governor or +Lieutenant Governor, but the latter has in it greater democratic +potentialities than the former, for the mere fact, if for no other, +that, while the British are more or less amenable to world opinion, the +rulers of Native States are not. It is inhuman, and not in accord with +modern ideas of right and wrong to reward somebody's loyalty by giving +him power of life and death over numerous fellow beings, otherwise than +in due course of law. Even the mighty British Government is not the +owner of the bodies and souls of its subjects in India. How, then, can +it assume the right of abandoning them to the absolute rule of a single +individual, however worthy or loyal he may be? We hope this stupid way +of rewarding loyal services may be ended by an express provision to that +effect in the statute which will be passed relating to the +reorganization of the Government of India. + +In this connection the following observations made in a leading +editorial of the _Servant of India_, Poona (February 16, 1919), are +worthy of attention: + +"A hundred years ago, it was decidedly in the interests of British rule, +and probably also in the interests of the people of India generally, +that the small, ill-governed, and eternally fighting states of India +should come under the suzerainty of a single powerful power. It may be +regarded as a historical misfortune that this power happened then to be +foreign, though many regard this contact with a virile civilization as +the making of India. This suzerainty could then be established duly by +entering into treaties with these states and guaranteeing them certain +rights and privileges. But these treaties have now assumed in the eyes +of the descendants of the original princes an air of inspiration; they +have become a kind of perpetuity. They always come in the way of any +improvement. When any new policy is proposed to them, they are always +prepared to say, 'This is not in the bond.' One may be allowed to +speculate as to how many of these Highnesses would have survived to this +day to put forward this claim in the absence of the suzerain power. +Thrones in ancient days were as unstable as they are becoming now in +Europe. It is hardly possible that the present popular wave in Europe +would not have touched our Native States. The subjects of the states +would have clamoured for a recognition of their rights, and they would +have had their way. But now the princes feel quite secure. Have they not +got their treaties? As a result there is no political life at all in the +Native States. The most ardent advocate of Home Rule would be most +violently against migration to a Native State. The real problem of the +Native States is how to get over the treaties when they conflict with +the interests of their subjects. The questions discussed at the Chiefs' +Conference leave us comparatively cold, as they entirely neglect the +people most concerned. The questions of the rights of the chiefs and +their salutes or precedence are in our opinion of a very secondary +importance. A renowned statesman in Europe gave at the utmost a life of +a dozen years to the most solemn treaty between two countries, for in +that period circumstances alter and the solid foundation for the treaty +cracks. Is it not high time that the treaties with the chiefs should be +revised after over a hundred years? It would indeed redound to their +credit if the chiefs themselves come forward to submit to such +readjustment. Perhaps their autocratic and irresponsible power may have +to suffer some diminution. But if they consent to that diminution so as +to give it to their subjects in the modern democratic spirit, the real +power and influence of the Native States will increase incalculably. It +is in this direction we wish to see a solution of the problem of the +Native States which are nowadays working as a brake on our national +progress." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The _Indian Year Book_ for 1918, p. 81. + + + + +X + +THE PROPOSALS + + There are epochs in the history of the world when in a few raging + years the character, the destiny, of the whole race is determined + for unknown ages. This is one. + + DAVID LLOYD GEORGE + + "Sowing the Winter Wheat." Speech delivered + at Carnarvon, to a meeting of constituents, + after becoming Prime Minister, February 3, + 1917. + + +Part II of the Report contains the scheme which Mr. Montagu and Lord +Chelmsford propose for the solution of the problem which they had set +themselves to solve in Part I. In giving their reasons for a new policy +they observe: + + "_No further development (on old lines) is possible unless we are + going to give the people of India some responsibility for their + own government._ But no one can imagine that no further + development is necessary. _It is evident that the present + machinery of government no longer meets the needs of the time; it + works slowly and it produces irritation_; there is a widespread + demand on the part of educated Indian opinion for its alteration; + and the need for advance is recognised by official opinion also." + [Italics are ours.] + +The new policy sketched by them is, in their judgment, "the logical +outcome of the past. Indians must be enabled, in so far as they attain +responsibility, to determine for themselves what they want done + + "... such limitations on powers as we are now proposing are due + only to the obvious fact that time is necessary in order to train + both representatives and electorates for the work which we desire + them to undertake; and that we offer Indians opportunities at + short intervals to prove the progress they are making and to make + good their claim, not by the method of agitation but by positive + demonstration, to the further stages in self-government which we + have just indicated." + +That is the only basis on which they maintain they can hope to see in +India "the growth of a conscious feeling of organic unity with the +Empire as a whole." With these and a few more prefatory remarks about +the educational problem and the attitude of the ryot and the enunciation +of the general principles on which their proposals are based they +proceed to formulate their scheme, starting first with the provinces. + + +I + +The proposals relating to Provincial Government may be noticed under the +following heads: + +(_a_) _Financial devolution_: It is proposed that henceforth there +should be a complete separation of the provincial finances from those of +the Government of India; that, reserving certain sources of revenue for +the Government of India, all others should be made over to the +Provincial Governments with the proviso that the first charge on all +Provincial revenues will be a contribution towards the maintenance of +the Government of India, considered necessary and demanded by the +latter. A certain amount of power to impose fresh taxes and to raise +loans is also conceded to the provincial Governments subject to the veto +of the Government of India. + +(_b_) _Legislative devolution_: "It is our intention," say the authors +of the report, "to reserve to the Government of India a general +overriding power of legislation for the discharge of all functions which +it will have to perform. It should be enabled under this power to +intervene in any province for the protection and enforcement of the +interests for which it is responsible; to legislate on any provincial +matter in respect of which uniformity of legislation is desirable, +either for the whole of India or for any two or more provinces; and to +pass legislation which may be adopted either _simpliciter_ or with +modifications by any province which may wish to make use of it. We think +that the Government of India must be the sole judge of the propriety of +any legislation which it may undertake under any one of these +categories, and that its competence so to legislate should not be open +to challenge in the courts. Subject to these reservations we intend that +within the field which may be marked off for provincial legislative +control the sole legislative power shall rest with the provincial +legislatures." It is not proposed to put a statutory limitation on the +power of the Government of India to legislate for the provinces, but it +is hoped that "constitutional practice" will prevent the central +Government interfering in provincial matters unless the interests for +which the latter is responsible are directly affected. + +(_c_) _Provincial Executive_: Article 220 gives the Governor the power +to appoint "one or two additional members of his Government as members +without portfolio for purposes of consultation and advice." + +These, in substance, are the proposals of the Secretary of State and the +Government of India for the future government of the provinces into +which India is divided. Some of these latter and some other tracts are +expressly excluded from the operation of these recommendations. It will +be at once observed that this is neither autonomy nor home rule. It is a +kind of hybrid system with final powers of veto and control vested in +the Government of India. The provision as to Provincial Legislatures +make it still more complicated. + + "Let us now explain how we contemplate in future that the + executive Governments of the provinces shall be constituted. As we + have seen, three provinces are now governed by a Governor and an + Executive Council of three members, of whom one is in practice an + Indian and two are usually appointed from the Indian Civil + Service, although the law says only that they must be qualified by + twelve years' service under the Crown in India. One province, + Bihar and Orissa, is administered by a Lieutenant-Governor with a + council of three constituted in the same way. The remaining five + provinces, that is to say, the three Lieutenant-Governorships of + the United Provinces, the Punjab and Burma and the Chief + Commissionerships of the Central Provinces and Assam are under the + administration of a single official Head. We find throughout India + a very general desire for the extension of Council government.... + Our first proposition, therefore, is that in all these provinces + singleheaded administration must cease and be replaced by + collective administration. + + "In determining the structure of the Executive we have to bear in + mind the duties with which it will be charged. We start with the + two postulates; the complete responsibility for the government + cannot be given immediately without inviting a breakdown, and that + some responsibility must be given at once if our scheme is to have + any value. We have defined responsibility as consisting primarily + in amenability to constituents, and in the second place in + amenability to an assembly. We do not believe that there is any + way of satisfying these governing conditions other than by making + a division of the functions of the Government, between those which + may be made over to popular control and those which for the + present must remain in official hands.... We may call these the + 'reserved' and 'transferred' subjects respectively. It then + follows that for the management of these two categories there must + be some form of executive body, with a legislative organ in + harmony with it.... + + * * * * * + + "We propose therefore that in each province the executive + Government should consist of two parts. One part would comprise + the head of the province and an executive council of two members. + In all provinces the head of the Government would be known as + Governor.... One of the two Executive Councillors would in + practice be a European qualified by long official experience, and + the other would be an Indian. It has been urged that the latter + should be an elected member of the provincial legislative council. + It is unreasonable that choice should be so limited. It should be + open to the Governor to recommend whom he wishes.... The Governor + in council would have charge of the reserved subjects. The other + part of the government would consist of one member or more than + one member, according to the number and importance of the + transferred subjects, chosen by the Governor from the elected + members of the Legislative council. They would be known as + ministers. They would be members of the executive Government but + not members of the Executive Council; they would be appointed for + the life-time of the legislative council, and if reelected to that + body would be re-eligible for appointment as members of the + Executive. As we have said, they would not hold office at the will + of the legislature but at that of their constituents. + + "The portfolios dealing with the transferred subjects would be + committed to the ministers, and on these subjects the ministers + together with the Governor would form the administration. On such + subjects their decision would be final, subject only to the + Governor's advice and control. We do not contemplate that from the + outset the Governor should occupy the position of a purely + constitutional Governor who is bound to accept the decisions of + his ministers." + +(_d_) _Provincial Legislatures_: "We propose there shall be in each +province an enlarged legislative council, differing in size and +composition from province to province, with a substantial elected +majority, elected by direct election on a broad franchise, with such +communal and special representation as may be necessary." + +The questions of franchise and special and communal representation have +been entrusted to a special committee the report of which is shortly +expected. The same committee will also decide how many official members +there will be on each Legislative Council. It is provided that the +Governor shall be the President of the Council and will have the power +to nominate a Vice-president from the official members. As to the effect +of resolutions it is said that "we do not propose that resolutions, +whether on reserved or transferred subjects should be binding." + +The classification of the reserved and transferred subjects was also +left to a special committee which has since concluded its labours and +whose report is awaited with interest. + +_Legislation on reserved subjects_: + + "For the purpose of enabling the provincial Government to get + through its legislation on reserved subjects, we propose that the + head of the Government should have power to certify that a Bill + dealing with a reserved subject is a measure 'essential to the + discharge of his responsibility for the peace or tranquillity of + the province or of any part thereof, or for the discharge of his + responsibility for the reserved subjects.'... The Bill will be + read and its general principles discussed in the full legislative + council. It will at this stage be open to the council by a + majority vote to request the Governor to refer to the Government + of India, whose decision on the point shall be final, on the + question whether the certified Bill deals with a reserved subject. + If no such reference is made, or if the Government of India decide + that the certificate has been properly given, the Bill will then + be automatically referred to a Grand Committee of the council. Its + composition should reproduce as nearly as possible the proportion + of the various elements in the larger body ... the grand committee + in every council should be constituted so as to comprise from 40 + to 50 per cent. of its strength. It should be chosen for each + Bill, partly by election by ballot, and partly by nomination. The + Governor should have power to nominate a bare majority exclusive + of himself. Of the members so nominated not more than two-thirds + should be officials, and the elected element should be elected _ad + hoc_ by the elected members of the council on the system of the + transferable vote." + + + "On reference to the grand committee, the Bill will be debated by + that body in the ordinary course, if necessary referred to a + select committee, to which body we think that the grand committee + should have power to appoint any member of the legislative council + whether a member of the grand committee or not. The select + committee will, as at present, have power to take evidence. Then, + after being debated in the grand committee and modified as may be + determined, the Bill will be reported to the whole council. The + council will have the right to discuss the Bill again generally, + but will not be able to reject it, or to amend it except on the + motion of a member of the executive council. The Governor will + then appoint a time limit within which the Bill may be debated in + the council, and on its expiry it will pass automatically. But + during such discussion the council will have the right to pass a + resolution recording any objection which refers to the principle + or details of the measure (but not, of course, to the certificate + of its character), and any such resolution will accompany the Act + when, after being signed by the Governor, it is submitted to the + Governor General and the Secretary of State." + + + _Provincial Budget_: "... the provincial budget should be framed + by the executive Government as a whole. The first charge on + provincial revenues will be the contribution to the Government of + India; and after that the supply for the reserved subjects will + have priority. The allocation of supply for the transferred + subjects will be decided by the ministers. If the revenue is + insufficient for their needs, the question of new taxation will be + decided by the Governor and the ministers. We are bound to + recognise that in time new taxation will be necessary, for no + conceivable economies can finance the new developments which are + to be anticipated. The budget will then be laid before the council + which will discuss it and vote by resolution upon the allotments. + If the legislative council rejects or modifies the proposed + allotment for reserved subjects, the Governor should have power to + insist on the whole or any part of the allotment originally + provided, if for reasons to be stated he certifies its necessity + in the terms which we have already suggested. We are emphatically + of opinion that the Governor in Council must be empowered to + obtain the supply which he declares to be necessary for the + discharge of his responsibilities. Except in so far as the + Governor exercises this power the budget would be altered in + accordance with the resolutions carried in council." + + + _Modification of the Scheme by the Government of India._ "After + five years' time from the first meeting of the reformed councils + we suggest that the Government of India should hear applications + from either the provincial Government or the provincial council + for the modification of the reserved and transferred lists of the + province; and that, after considering the evidence laid before + them, they should recommend for the approval of the Secretary of + State the transfer of such further subjects to the transferred + list as they think desirable. On the other hand, if it should be + made plain to them that certain functions have been seriously + maladministered, it will be open to them, with the sanction of the + Secretary of State, to retransfer subjects from the transferred to + the reserved list, or to place restrictions for the future on the + minister's powers in respect of certain transferred subjects.... + But it is also desirable to complete the responsibility of the + ministers for the transferred subjects. This should come in one of + two ways, either at the initiative of the council if it desires + and is prepared to exercise greater control over the ministers, or + at the discretion of the Government of India, which may wish to + make this change as a condition of the grant of new, or of the + maintainance of existing, powers. We propose, therefore, that the + Government of India may, when hearing such applications, direct + that the ministers' salaries, instead of any longer being treated + as a reserved subject, and, therefore, protected in the last + resort by the Governor's order from interference should be + specifically voted each year by the legislative council; or, + failing such direction by the Government of India, it should be + open to the councils at that time or subsequently to demand by + resolution that such ministers' salaries should be so voted, and + the Government of India should thereupon give effect to such + request." + + + _Periodic commissions_: ... Ten years after the first meeting of + the new councils established under the Statute a commission should + be appointed to review the position. Criticism has been expressed + in the past of the composition of Royal Commissions, and it is our + intention that the commission which we suggest should be regarded + as authoritative and should derive its authority from Parliament + itself. The names of the commissioners, therefore, should be + submitted by the Secretary of State to both Houses of Parliament + for approval by resolution. The commissioners' mandate should be + to consider whether by the end of the term of the legislature then + in existence it would be possible to establish complete + responsible government in any province or provinces, or how far it + would be possible to approximate it in others; to advise on the + continued reservation of any departments for the transfer of which + to popular control it has been proved to their satisfaction that + the time had not yet come; to recommend the retransfer of other + matters to the control of the Governor in Council if serious + maladministration were established; and to make any + recommendations for the working of responsible government or the + improvement of the constitutional machinery which experience of + the systems in operation may show to be desirable.... + + "There are several other important matters, germane in greater or + less degree to our main purpose, which the commission should + review. They should investigate the progress made in admitting + Indians into the higher ranks of the public service. They should + examine the apportionment of the financial burden of India with a + view to adjusting it more fairly between the provinces. The + commission should also examine the development of education among + the people and the progress and working of local self-governing + bodies. Lastly the commission should consider the working of the + franchise and the constitution of electorates, including the + important matter of the retention of communal representation. + Indeed, we regard the development of a broad franchise as the arch + on which the edifice of self-government must be raised; for we + have no intention that our reforms should result merely in the + transfer of powers from a bureaucracy to an oligarchy...." + + "In proposing the appointment of a commission ten years after the + new Act takes effect we wish to guard against possible + misunderstanding. We would not be taken as implying that there can + be established by that time complete responsible government in the + provinces. In many of the provinces no such consummation can + follow in the time named. The pace will be everywhere unequal, + though progress in one province will always stimulate progress + elsewhere; but undue expectations might be aroused, if we + indicated any opinion as to the degree of approximation to + complete self-government that might be reached even in one or two + of the most advanced provinces. The reasons that make complete + responsibility at present impossible are likely to continue + operative in some degree even after a decade." + + +II + +The proposals regarding the Government of India called the Central +Government may be thus summed up: + + (_a_) _General_: "We have already made our opinion clear that + pending the development of responsible government in the provinces + the Government of India must remain responsible only to + Parliament. In other words, in all matters which it judges to be + essential to the discharge of its responsibilities for peace, + order, and good government it must, saving only for its + accountability to Parliament, retain indisputable power." + + (_b_) _The Governor General's Executive Council_: "We would + therefore abolish such statutory restrictions as now exist in + respect of the appointment of Members of the Governor General's + Council, so as to give greater elasticity both in respect to the + size of the Government and the distribution of work." + +At present there is one Indian member in the Viceroy's Executive Council +consisting of six ordinary members and one extraordinary besides the +Viceroy. This scheme recommends the appointment of another Indian. + + (_c_) _The Indian Legislative Council_. + + I. Legislative Assembly: "We recommend therefore that the strength + of the legislative council, to be known in future as the + Legislative Assembly of India, should be raised to a total + strength of about 100 members, so as to be far more truly + representative of British India. We propose that two-thirds of + this total should be returned by election; and that one-third + should be nominated by the Governor General, of which third not + less than a third again should be non-officials selected with the + object of representing minority or special interests.... Some + special representation, we think, there must be, as for European + and Indian commerce, and also for the large landlords. There + should be also communal representation for Muhammadans in most + provinces and also for Sikhs in the Punjab." + + II. The Council of State: "We do not propose to institute a + complete bi-cameral system, but to create a second chamber, known + as the Council of State, which shall take its part in ordinary + legislative business and shall be the final legislative authority + in matters which the government regards as essential. The Council + of State will be composed of 50 members, exclusive of the Governor + General, who would be President, with power to appoint a + Vice-President who would normally take his place: not more than 25 + will be officials, including the members of the executive council, + and 4 would be non-officials nominated by the Governor General. + Official members would be eligible for nomination to both the + Legislative Assembly and the Council of State. There would be 21 + elected members of whom 15 will be returned by the non-official + members of the provincial legislative councils, each council + returning two members, other than those of Burma, the Central + Provinces and Assam which will return one member each.... + + "Inasmuch as the Council of State will be the supreme legislative + authority for India on all crucial questions and also the revising + authority upon all Indian legislation, we desire to attract to it + the services of the best men available in the country. We desire + that the Council of State should develop something of the + experience and dignity of a body of Elder Statesmen; and we + suggest therefore that the Governor General in Council should make + regulations as to the qualification of candidates for election to + that body which will ensure that their status and position and + record of services will give to the Council a senatorial + character, and the qualities usually regarded as appropriate to a + revising chamber." + + III. Legislative procedure: "Let us now explain how this + legislative machinery will work. It will make for clearness to + deal separately with Government Bills and Bills introduced by + non-official members. A Government Bill will ordinarily be + introduced and carried through all the usual stages in the + Legislative Assembly. It will then go in the ordinary course to + the Council of State, and if there amended in any way which the + Assembly is not willing to accept, it will be submitted to a joint + session of both Houses, by whose decision its ultimate fate will + be decided. This will be the ordinary course of legislation. But + it might well happen that amendments made by the Council of State + were such as to be essential in the view of the Government if the + purpose with which the Bill was originally introduced was to be + achieved, and in this case the Governor General in Council would + certify that the amendments were essential to the interests of + peace, order, or good government. The assembly would then not have + power to reject or modify these amendments, nor would they be open + to revision in a joint session. + + "We have to provide for two other possibilities. Cases may occur + in which the Legislative Assembly refuses leave to the + introduction of a Bill or throws out a Bill which the Government + regarded as necessary. For such a contingency we would provide + that if leave to introduce a Government Bill is refused, or if the + Bill is thrown out at any stage, the Government should have the + power, on the certificate of the Governor General in Council that + the Bill is essential to the interests of peace, order, or good + government, to refer it _de novo_ to the Council of State; and if + the Bill, after being taken in all its stages through the Council + of State, was passed by that body, it would become law without + further reference to the Assembly. Further, there may be cases + when the consideration of a measure by both chambers would take + too long if the emergency which called for the measure is to be + met. Such a contingency should rarely arise; but we advise that in + cases of emergency, so certified by the Governor General in + Council, it should be open to the Government to introduce a Bill + in the Council of State, and upon its being passed there merely to + report it to the Assembly." + + IV. Powers of dissolution, etc.: "The Governor General should in + our opinion have power at any time to dissolve either the + Legislative Assembly or the Council of State or both these bodies. + It is perhaps unnecessary to add that the Governor General and + the Secretary of State should retain their existing powers of + assent, reservation, and disallowance to all Acts of the Indian + legislature. The present powers of the Governor General in Council + under section 71 of the Government of India Act. 1915, to make + regulations proposed by local Governments for the peace and good + government of backward tracts of territory should also be + preserved; with the modification that it will in future rest with + the Head of the province concerned to propose such regulations to + the Government of India." + + V. Fiscal legislation: "Fiscal legislation will, of course, be + subject to the procedure which we have recommended in respect of + Government Bills. The budget will be introduced in the Legislative + Assembly but the Assembly will not vote it. Resolutions upon + budget matters and upon all other questions, whether moved in the + Assembly or in the Council of State, will continue to be advisory + in character." + + (d) Privy Council: "We have a further recommendation to make. We + would ask that His Majesty may be graciously pleased to approve + the institution of a Privy Council for India.... The Privy + Council's office would be to advise the Governor General when he + saw fit to consult it on questions of policy and administration." + + (e) Periodic commissions: "At the end of the last chapter we + recommended that ten years after the institution of our reforms, + and again at intervals of twelve years thereafter, a commission + approved by Parliament should investigate the working of the + changes introduced into the provinces, and recommend as to their + further progress. It should be equally the duty of the commission + to examine and report upon the new constitution of the Government + of India, with particular reference to the working of the + machinery for representation, the procedure by certificate, and + the results of joint sessions." + + + +III + +INDIA OFFICE IN LONDON + +The principal proposals under this head may be thus summarized; + + "We advise that the Secretary of State's salary, like that of all + other Ministers of the Crown, should be defrayed from home + revenues and voted annually by Parliament. This will enable any + live questions of Indian administration to be discussed by the + House of Commons in Committee of Supply.... It might be thought to + follow that the whole charges of the India Office establishment + should similarly be transferred to the home Exchequer; but this + matter is complicated by a series of past transactions, and by the + amount of agency work which the India Office does on behalf of the + Government of India; and we advise that our proposed committee + upon the India Office organization should examine it and taking + these factors into consideration, determine which of the various + India Office charges should be so transferred, and which can + legitimately be retained as a burden on Indian revenues. + + "But the transfer of charges which we propose, although it will + give reality to the debates on Indian affairs, will not ensure in + Parliament a better informed or a more sustained interest in + India. We feel that this result can only be accomplished by + appointing a Select Committee of Parliament on Indian affairs." + +The above in substance is the proposed scheme. In India it has met with +varied response. The European community does not approve of it. They +think it is too radical. The European Services have struck a note of +rebellion threatening to resign in case of its acceptance by Parliament. +The Indian politicians are divided into two camps. Their views are best +represented by the following tabular statement which we reproduce from +the Indian newspapers. + + +A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE RESOLUTIONS RELATING TO THE REFORM PROPOSALS +PASSED + + +_Ordinary Rights of Citizens_ + + BY THE SPECIAL CONGRESS BY THE MODERATE CONFERENCE + + Resolution IV. The Government of (V) This Conference urges that + India shall have undivided legislation of an exceptional + administrative authority on character having the effect of + matters directly concerning curtailing ordinary rights such + peace, tranquillity and defence as the freedom of the press and + of the country subject to the public meetings and open + following: judicial trial, should not be + carried through the Council of + That the Statute to be passed by State alone, or in spite of the + Parliament should include the declared opinion of the + Declaration of the Rights of the Legislative Assembly of India, + people of India as British except in a time of war or + citizens: internal disturbance, without + the approval of the Select + (a) That all Indian subjects of Committee of the House of + his Majesty and all the subjects Commons proposed to be set up + naturalized or resident in India under the Scheme unless such + are equal before the law, and legislation is of a temporary + there shall be no penal nor character and limited to a + administrative law in force in period of one year only, the + the country whether substantive said legislation being in any + or procedural of a case made renewable without such + discriminative nature. approval in the last resort. + + (b) That no Indian subject of + his Majesty shall be liable to 10 + suffer in liberty, life, + property or of association, free (c) All racial inequalities in + speech or in respect of writing, respect of trial by jury, the + except under sentence by an rules made under the Arms Act, + ordinary Court of Justice, and etc. should be removed and the + as a result of a lawful and open latter should be so amended as + trial. to provide for the possession + and carrying of arms by Indians + (c) That every Indian subject under liberal conditions. + shall be entitled to bear arms, + subject to the purchase of a (d) A complete separation of + licence, as in Great Britain, judicial and executive functions + and that the right shall not be of all district officers should + taken away save by a sentence of be made, at least in all major + an ordinary Court of Justice. provinces, at once, and the + judiciary placed under the + (d) That the Press shall be jurisdiction of the highest + free, and that no licence nor court of the province. + security shall be demanded on + the registration of a press or a + newspaper. + + (e) That corporal punishment + shall not be inflicted on any + Indian serving in his Majesty's + Army or Navy save under + conditions applying equally to + all other British subjects. + + +_Fiscal Autonomy_ + + Resolution V. This Congress (VI) Saving such equal and + is strongly of opinion that equitable Imperial obligations + essential for the welfare of the as may be agreed upon as resting + Indian people that the Indian on all parts of the Empire, the + Legislature should have the Government of India, acting + same measure of fiscal autonomy under the control of the + which the self-governing dominions Legislature, should enjoy the same + of the Empire possess. power of regulating the fiscal + policy of India as the Governments + of the self-governing dominions + enjoy of regulating their fiscal + policy. + + +_Reform Proposals_ + + Resolution VI. That this (III) 'This Conference cordially + Congress appreciates the earnest welcomes the Reform Proposals of + attempt on the part of the Right the Secretary of State and the + Hon. the Secretary of State and Viceroy of India as constituting + his Excellency the Viceroy to a distinct advance on present + inaugurate a system of conditions as regards the + responsible government in India, Government of India and the + and, while it recognizes that Provincial Governments and also + some of the proposals constitute a real step towards the + an advance on the present progressive realization of + conditions in some directions, "responsible government" in the + it is of opinion that the Provincial Government in due + proposals are as a whole fulfillment of the terms of the + disappointing and announcement of August 20, 1917. + unsatisfactory, and suggests the As such this Conference accords + following modifications as its hearty support to those + absolutely necessary to proposals, and, while suggesting + constitute a substantial step necessary modifications and + towards responsible government: improvements therein, expresses + its grateful appreciation of the + earnest effort of Mr. Montagu + and Lord Chelmsford to start the + country on a career of genuine + and lasting progress towards the + promised goal.' + + (V) 'This Conference regards all + attempts at the condemnation or + rejection of the Reform Scheme + as a whole as ill advised, and + in particular protests + emphatically against the + reactionary attitude assumed + towards it by the Indo-British + Association and some European + public bodies in this country + which is certain to produce, if + successfully persisted--in, an + extremely undesirable state of + feeling between England and + India and imperil the cause of + ordered progress in this + country. This Conference, + therefore, most earnestly urges + his Majesty's Government and + Parliament of the United Kingdom + to give effect to the provisions + of the Scheme and the suggestion + of its supporters in regard + thereto as early as possible by + suitable legislation.' + + +_Government of India_ + + (1) That a system of reserved (V) (a) 'This Conference, while + and transferred subjects similar making due allowance for the + to that proposed for the necessities or drawbacks of + provinces, shall be adopted for transitional scheme, urges that, + the Central Government. having regard to the terms of + the announcement of August 20, + (2) That the reserved subjects 1917, and in order that the + shall be foreign affairs progress of India towards the + (excepting relations with the goal of a self-governing unit of + colonies and dominions) army, the British Empire may be + navy, and relations with Indian facilitated and not unduly + Ruling Princes, and subject to delayed or hampered, as also + the declaration of rights with a view to avoid the + contained in resolution IV, the untoward consequences of a + matters directly affecting legislature containing a + public peace, tranquillity and substantially elected popular + defence of the country, and all element being allowed merely to + other subjects shall be indulge in criticism unchecked + transferred subjects. by responsibility, it is + essential that the principle of + (3) The allotments required for responsible government' should + reserved subjects should be the be introduced also in the + first charge on the revenues. Government of India, + simultaneously with a similar + (4) The procedure for the reform in the provinces. There + adoption of the budget should be should, therefore, be a division + on the lines laid down for the of functions in the Central + provinces. Government into 'reserved' and + 'transferred' as a part of the + (5) All legislation should be by present instalment of reforms + Bills introduced into the and the Committee on division of + Legislative Assembly, provided functions should be instructed + that, if, in the case of to investigate the subject and + reserved subjects, the make recommendations. + Legislative Council does not + pass such measures as the (b) While, as suggested above, + Government may deem necessary, some measures of transfer of + the Governor General-in-Council power to the Indian Legislature + may provide for the same by should be introduced at the + regulations, such regulations to commencement, provision should + be in force for one year but not be made for future progress + to be renewed unless 40 per towards complete responsible + cent. of the members of the government of the Government of + Assembly present and voting are India by specifically + in favour of them. authorizing the proposed + periodic Commissions to inquire + (6) There shall be no Council of into the matter and to recommend + State, but if the Council of to Parliament such further + State is to be constituted, at advance as may be deemed + least half of its total strength necessary or desirable in that + shall consist of elected behalf. + members, and that procedure by + certification shall be confined (c) The power of certification + to the reserved subjects. given to the Governor-General + should be limited to matters + (7) At least half the number of involving the defence of the + Executive Councillors (if there country's foreign and political + be more than one) in charge of relations, and peace and order + reserved subjects should be and should not be extended to + Indians. 'good government' generally or + 'sound financial + (8) The number of members of the administration.' + Legislative Assembly should be + raised to 150 and the proportion (e) This Conference recommends + of the elected members should be that the composition of the + four-fifths. Council of State should be so + altered as to ensure that one + (9) The President and the half of its total strength shall + Vice-President of the consist of elected members. + Legislative Assembly should be + elected by the Assembly. (f) The Indian element in the + Executive Government of India + (10) The Legislative Assembly should be one-half of the total + should have power to make or number of that Government. + modify its own rules of business + and they shall not require the + sanction of the Governor + General. + + (11) There shall be an + obligation to convene meetings + of the Council and Assembly at + stated intervals, or on the + requisition of a certain + proportion of members. + + (12) A statutory guarantee + should be given that full + responsible government should be + established in the whole of + British India within a period + not exceeding 15 years. + + (13) That there should be no + Privy Council for the present. + + +_Provincial Governments_ + + 1. There should be no additional (e) The proposal to appoint an + members of the Executive additional Member or Members + Government without portfolios. from among the senior officials, + without portfolios and without + 2. From the commencement of the vote for purposes of + first Council the principle of consultation and advice only, + responsibility of the ministers but as _Members of the Executive + to the legislature shall come Government_, in the provinces + into force. should be dropped. + + 3. The status and salary of the (1) + ministers shall be the same as + that of the members of Executive (a) The status and emoluments of + Council. Ministers should be identical + with those of Executive + 4. At least half the number of Councillors, and the Governor + Executive Councillors in charge should not have greater power of + of reserved subjects (if there control over them than over the + be more than one) should be latter. + Indians. + (b) Whatever power may be given + 5. The Budget shall be under the to the Governor-in-Council to + control of the Legislature interfere with the decisions of + subject to the contribution to the Governor and Ministers on + the Government of India, and the ground of their possible + during the life-time of the effects on the administration of + reformed Councils, to the the reserved subjects, + allocation of a fixed sum for corresponding power should be + the reserved subjects; and given to the Governor and + should fresh taxation be Ministers in respect of + necessary, it should be imposed decisions of the + by the provincial Governments, Governor-in-Council affecting + as a whole for both transferred directly or indirectly the + and reserved subjects. administration of the + transferred subjects. + LEGISLATURE + (d) Heads of provincial + 1. While holding that the people Governments in the major + are ripe for the introduction of provinces should ordinarily be + full provincial autonomy the selected from the ranks of + Congress is yet prepared with a public men in the United + view to facilitating the passage Kingdom. + of the Reforms, to leave the + departments of Law, Police and (e) No administrative control + Justice, (prisons excepted) in over subjects vested in + the hands of the Executive provincial Governments should be + Government in all provinces for 'reserved' in the central + a period of six years. Executive Government particularly in + and Judicial Departments must be respect of 'transferred' heads. + separated at once. + (f) The Government of India + 2. The President and the should have no power to make a + Vice-President should be elected supplementary levy upon the + by the Council. provinces; they may only take + loans from the latter on + 3. That the proposal to occasions of emergency. + institute a Grand Committee + shall be dropped. The Provincial (2) This Conference recommends + Legislative Council shall that the largest possible number + legislate in respect of all of subjects should be included + matters within the jurisdiction in the 'transferred' list in + of provincial Government, every province as the progress + including Law, Justice and and conditions of each province + Police but where the Government may justify and that none + is not satisfied with the mentioned in the Illustrative + decision of the Legislative List No. 11 appended to the + Council in respect of matters Report should, as far as + relating to Law, Justice and possible, be 'reserved' in any + Police, it shall be open to the province. + Government to refer the matter + to the Government of India. The IX (c) The Legislative Councils + Government of India may refer should have the right to elect + the matter to the Indian their own Presidents and + Legislature and the ordinary Vice-Presidents. + procedure shall follow. But if + Grand Committees are instituted, VIII (b) The elected element in + this Congress is of opinion, the Provincial Legislative + that not less than one-half of Councils should be four-fifths + the strength shall be elected by of the total strength of the + the Legislative Assembly. Councils at least in the more + advanced provinces. + 4. The proportion of elected + members in the Legislative IX. 1 (a) It should be provided + Council shall be four fifths. that when a Council is dissolved + by the Governor, a fresh + ELECTIONS election should be held and the + new Council summoned not later + 5. Whenever the Legislative than four months after the + Assembly, the Council of State, dissolution. + or the Legislative Council is + dissolved, it shall be VIII (a) The Franchise should be + obligatory on the Government as as wide and the composition of + the case may be, to order the the Legislative Council should + necessary elections, and to be as liberal as circumstances + resummon the body dissolved may admit in each province, the + within a period of three months number of representatives of the + from the date of dissolution. general territorial electorates + being fixed in every case at not + 6. The Legislative Assembly less than one-half of the whole + should have power to make or council. + modify its own rules of business + and they shall not require the (c) The franchise should be so + sanction of the broad and the electorates so + Governor-General. devised as to secure to all + classes of tax-payers their due + 7. There should be an obligation representation by election and + to convene meetings of the the interests of those + Council and Assembly at stated communities or groups of + intervals, or on the requisition communities in Madras and the + of a certain proportion of Bombay Deccan and elsewhere who + members of the Assembly. at present demand special + electoral protection should be + 8. No dissolution of the adequately safeguarded by + legislature shall take place introducing a system of plural + except by way of an appeal to constituencies in which a + the electorate and the reason reasonable number of seats + shall be stated in writing should be reserved for those + countersigned by the Ministers. communities. + + (e) In the case of any community + for which separate special + electorates may be deemed at + present necessary, participation + in the general territorial + electorates, whether as voters + or candidates, should not be + permitted. + + (f) It shall be left to the + option of an individual + belonging to a community which + is given separate representation + to enrol himself as a voter + either in the general or the + communal electorate. + + +_Parliament and India Office_ + + (e) The control of Parliament (XI) This Conference, while + and of the Secretary of State generally approving of the + must only be modified as the proposals embodied in the Report + responsibility of the Indian and regarding the India Office and + provincial Governments to the Parliamentary control, urges:-- + electorates is increased. No + power over provincial (a) That the administrative + Governments now exercised by control of Parliament over the + Parliament and by the Secretary Government of India exercised + of State must be transferred to through the Secretary of State + the Government of India, save in should continue except in so far + matters of routine as the control of the + administration until the legislature on the spot is + latter is responsible to substituted for the present + the electorates. Parliamentary control. + + (d) No financial or (d) That until the India Council + administrative powers in regard can be abolished by substituting + to reserved subjects should be Indian control for the control + transferred to the provincial of Parliament over the affairs + Governments until such time as of India, it should be a mere + they are made responsible advisory body with its strength + regarding them to electorates, reduced to 8 members, four of + and until then the control of whom should be Indians. + Parliament and the Secretary of + State should continue. (c) That at least a major part + of the cost of the India Office + (b) The Council of India shall should be borne by the British + be abolished, and there shall be Exchequer. + two permanent Undersecretaries + to assist the Secretary of State (b) That Indian opinion should + for India, one of whom shall be be represented on the Committee + an Indian. appointed to report upon the + organisation of the India Office + (c) All charges in respect to and the evidence of Indian + the India Office establishment witnesses invited. + shall be placed on the British + estimates. + + (d) The committee to be + appointed to examine and report + on the present constitution of + the Council of India shall + contain an adequate Indian + element. + + +_Mahomedan Representation_ + + Resolution VII. The proportion (VIII) (d) Mahomedan + of Mahomedans in the Legislative representation in every + Council and the Legislative legislature should be in the + Assembly as laid down in the proportions mentioned in the + Congress-League Scheme must be Scheme adopted by the Congress + maintained. and the Muslim League at + Lucknow in 1916. + + +_Army Commissions_ + + Resolution XII. This Congress (b) This Conference strongly + places on record its deep urges that Indians should be + disappointment at the altogether nominated to 20 per cent., + inadequate response made by the to start with, of King's + Government to the demand for the commissions in the Indian Army + grant of commissions to Indians and that adequate provision for + in the army, and is of opinion training them should be made in + that steps should be immediately this country itself. + taken so as to enable the grant + to Indians at an early date of + at least 25 per cent. of the + commissions in the army, the + proportions to be gradually + increased to 50 per cent. within + a period of ten years. + + +_Public Services_ + + Resolution XVII. That this X (a) This Conference thanks the + Congress is of opinion that the Secretary of State and the + proportion of annual recruitment Viceroy for recommending that + to the Indian civil service to all racial bars should be + be made in England should be 50 abolished and for recognizing + per cent. to start with, such the principle of recruiting of + recruitment to be by open all the Indian public services + competition in India from in India and in England instead + persons already appointed to the of any service being recruited + Provincial Civil Service. for exclusively in the latter + country. + + +_Franchise for Women_ + + Resolution VIII. Women possessing + the same qualifications as are + laid down for men in any part + of the Scheme shall not be + disqualified on account of sex. + + + CONSTITUTION OF COUNCILS CONSTITUTION OF PERIODIC + COMMISSION + Resolution XIII. That, so far as + the question of determining the 9 (b) Some provision should be + franchise and the constituence made for the appointment and + and the composition of the cooperation of qualified Indians + Legislative Assemblies is on the periodic commission + concerned, this Congress is of proposed to be appointed every + opinion that, instead of being ten or twelve years and it + left to be dealt with by should further be provided that + Committees, it should be decided the first periodic commission + by the House of Commons and be shall come to India and submit + incorporated in the statute to its recommendations to + be framed for the constitution Parliament before the expiry of + of the Indian Government. the third Legislative Council + after the Reform Scheme comes + Resolution XIV. That as regards into operation and that every + the Committee to advise on the subsequent periodic commission + question of the separation of should be appointed at the end + Indian from provincial functions of every ten years. + and also with regard to the + Committee if any for the + consideration of reserved or an + unreserved department, this + Congress is of opinion that the + principle set forth in the above + resolution should apply _mutatis + mutandis_ to the formation of + the said Committee. + + Or + + In the alternative; if a + Committee is appointed for the + purpose, the two non-official + members of the Committee should + be elected--one by the All-India + Congress Committee and the other + by the Council of the Moslem + League while the coopted + non-official for each province + should be elected by the + Provincial Congress Committee + of that province. + +The All-India Muslim League is in substantial accord with the +resolutions of the Special Congress. It will be easily seen that Indian +opinion, of both Hindus and Mussulmans, is substantially in accord in +their demands for the democratization of the Central government and in +their criticism of the rest of the scheme. The Indians have thus +exercised their right of self-determination through their popular bodies +and are entitled to get what they demand. After all, what they ask for +is only a modest instalment of autonomy under British control. + +In the appendices the reader will find a comparative table showing (a) +the present Constitution of Government in India (b) the proposals of the +Secretary of State and the Viceroy (c) and the Congress League Scheme. + + + + +XI + +INDIA'S CLAIM TO FISCAL AUTONOMY "INDUSTRIES AND TARIFFS" + + ... for equality of right amongst nations, small as well as + great, is one of the fundamental issues this country and her + allies are fighting to establish in this war. + + DAVID LLOYD GEORGE + + "The War Aims of the Allies." Speech delivered + to delegates of the Trade Unions, at the Central + Hall, Westminster, January 5, 1918. + + I beg to record my strong opinion that in the matter of Indian + industries we are bound to consider Indian interests firstly, + secondly, and thirdly. I mean by "firstly" that the local raw + products should be utilised, by secondly, that industries should be + introduced and by "thirdly" that the profits of such industry + should remain in the country. + + SIR FREDERICK NICHOLSON + + Quoted on page 300, Report of the Indian + Industrial Commission, 1916-1918. + + +Economic bondage is the worst of all bondages. Economic dependence, or +the lack of economic independence, is the source of all misery, +individual or national. A person economically dependent upon another is +a virtual slave, despite appearances. He who supplies food and raiment +and the necessities of life is the real master. + +The desire for gain dominates the world and all its activities. Even +religion, as ordinarily understood, interpreted and administered, is a +game of pounds and shillings, say what one may to the contrary. There +are exceptions to this statement, but they are few and far between. The +world does not subsist by bread alone, but without bread it cannot exist +even for a minute. The generality of the world cares more for bread than +for anything else, though there are individuals and groups of +individuals who would not stoop to obtain bread by dishonorable means +and those also who would die rather than obtain bread by the violation +of their soul. + +There are numerous ways in which a subject nation feels the humiliation +and helplessness of her position, but none is so telling and so +effective as the subordination of her economic interests to those of the +dominant power. This is especially true in these days of free and easy +transportation, of quick journeys, and of scientific warfare. In any +struggle between nations, the victory eventually must rest with the one +in possession of the largest number of "silver bullets." It is true that +silver bullets alone will not do unless there are brains and bodies to +use them, but the latter without the former are helpless. + +A nation may be the greatest producer of food; yet she may die of hunger +from lack of ability to keep her own produce for herself. Food obeys the +behest of the silver bullets. The law of self-preservation, therefore, +requires only that nations be free to regulate their own household, +subject to the condition that thereby they do not violate the rules of +humanity or trample upon the rights of any human being. + +Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford have, in parts of their Report, been +extremely candid. The value of their joint production lies in this +candidness. In no other part, perhaps, have they been so candid as in +the one dealing with "Industries and Tariff." In Paragraph 331 they +frankly admit the truth of the following observation of the late Mr. +Ranade on the economic effects of British rule in India: + + "The political domination of one country by another attracts far + more attention than the more formidable, though more unfelt, + domination which the capital, enterprise and skill of one country + exercise over the trade and manufactures of another. This latter + domination has an insidious influence which paralyses the springs + of all the various activities which together make up the life of a + nation." + +In the course of a letter addressed to the _Westminster Gazette_ in +1917, Lord Curzon said that "the fiscal policy of India during the last +thirty or forty years has been shaped far more in Manchester than in +Calcutta." This candid admission about "the subordination of Indian +fiscal policy to the Secretary of State and a House of Commons +powerfully affected by Lancashire influence," is the keynote of the +Indian demand for Home Rule. The authors of the Montagu-Chelmsford +Report say so quite frankly and fairly in Paragraphs 332 to 336 of their +report, from which we make the following extracts: + + "The people are poor; and their poverty raises the question + whether the general level of well-being could not be materially + raised by the development of industries. It is also clear that the + lack of outlet for educated youth is a serious misfortune which + has contributed not a little in the past to political unrest in + Bengal. But perhaps an even greater mischief is the discontent + aroused in the minds of those who are jealous for India by seeing + that she is so largely dependent on foreign countries for + manufactured goods. They noted that her foreign trade was always + growing, but they also saw that its leading feature continued to + be the barter of raw materials valued at relatively low prices for + imported manufactures, which obviously afforded profits and + prosperity to other countries industrially more advanced. + Patriotic Indians might well ask themselves why these profits + should not accrue to their country: and also why so large a + portion of the industries which flourished in the country was + financed by European capital and managed by European skill." + + "The fact that India's foreign trade was largely with the United + Kingdom gave rise to a suspicion that her industrial backwardness + was positively encouraged in the interests of British + manufactures, and the maintenance of the excise duty on locally + manufactured cotton goods in the alleged interests of Lancashire + is very widely accepted as a conclusive proof of such a purpose. + On a smaller scale, the maintenance of a Stores Department at the + India Office is looked upon as an encouragement to the Government + to patronize British at the expense of local manufacturers." + +There can thus be no autonomy without fiscal autonomy. In fact, the +latter alone is the determining characteristic of an autonomous +existence. + +The one national trait which distinguishes the British from other +nations of the world is their habit of truthfulness and frankness. When +we say that we do not thereby mean that all Britishers are equally +truthful--to the same extent and degree. But we do mean that on the +whole the British nation has a larger percentage of truthful and candid +persons in her family than any other nation on the face of the earth. +Where their interests clash with those of others, they can be as hard, +exacting and cruel as any one else in the world. But repentance +overtakes them sooner than it does the others. They have a queer but +admirable faculty of introspection which few other people possess to the +same extent and in the same numbers. This is what endears them even to +those who are never tired of cursing their snobbishness and masterful +imperialism. The faculty of occasionally seeing themselves with the eyes +of others, makes them the most successful _rulers of men_. They are as a +nation lacking in imagination, but there are individuals amongst them +who can see, if they will, their own faults; who can and do speak out +their minds honestly and truthfully, even though by so doing they may +temporarily earn odium and unpopularity. + +The remarks and observations of the eminent authors of the Report +relating to the fiscal relations of India and England reflect the +honesty of their purpose and the sincerity of their mind as no other +part of the Report does. They have entered upon the subject with great +diffidence and, though expressing themselves with marked candor and +fairness, have refrained from making any definite recommendations. + +In this respect it will be only fair to acknowledge the equally candid +opinion of Mr. Austin Chamberlain, who, in 1917, made a most significant +confession by stating on an important occasion that "India will not +remain, and ought not to remain content to be a hewer of wood and a +drawer of water for the rest of the Empire." + +To our simple minds, not accustomed to the anomalies of official life, +it seems inexplicable how, after these candid admissions, the authors +could have any hesitation in recommending the only remedy by which +India's wrong could be righted and her economic rights secured in the +future--viz., fiscal autonomy. + +In Paragraph 335 the authors of the report give the genesis of the +Swadeshi boycott movement of 1905, and very pertinently observe that "in +Japanese progress and efficiency" the educated Indians see "an example +of what could be effected by an Asiatic nation free of foreign control," +or in other words, of what could be achieved by India, if she had a +national government of her own interested in her industrial advance. Mr. +Montagu and Lord Chelmsford thus rightly observe that "English theories +to the appropriate limits of the State's activity are inapplicable in +India" and that if the resources of the country are to be developed the +Government must take action. + +"After the war," add the authors, "the need for industrial development +will be all the greater unless India is to become a mere dumping-ground +for the manufactures of foreign nations which will then be competing all +the more keenly for the markets on which their political strength so +perceptibly depends. India will certainly consider herself entitled to +claim all the help that her Government can give her to enable her to +take her place as a manufacturing country; and unless the claim is +admitted it will surely turn into an insistent request for a tariff +which will penalize imported articles without respect of origin." + +Further on the Report states: + + "We are agreed therefore that there must be a definite change of + view; and that the Government must admit and shoulder its + responsibility for furthering the industrial development of the + country. The difficulties by this time are well-known. In the + past, and partly as a result of recent _swadeshi_ experiences, + India's capital has not generally been readily available; among + some communities at least there is apparent distaste for practical + training, and a comparative weakness of mutual trust; _skilled + labour is lacking_, and although _labour is plentiful, education + is needed to inculcate a higher standard of living and so to + secure a continuous supply; there is a dearth of technical + institutions; there is also a want of practical information about + the commercial potentialities of India's war products_. Though + these are serious difficulties, they are not insuperable; but they + will be overcome only if the State comes forward boldly as guide + and helper. On the other hand, there are good grounds for hope. + India has great natural resources, mineral and vegetable. She has + furnished supplies of manganese, tungsten, mica, jute, copra, lac, + etc., for use in the war. She has abundant coal, even if its + geographical distribution is uneven; she has also in her large + rivers ample means of creating water-power. There is good reason + for believing that she will greatly increase her output of oil. + Her forest wealth is immense, and much of it only awaits the + introduction of modern means of transportation, a bolder + investment of capital, and the employment of extra staff; while + the patient and laborious work of conservation that has been + steadily proceeding joined with modern scientific methods of + improving supplies and increasing output, will yield a rich + harvest in the future. We have been assured that Indian capital + will be forthcoming once it is realized that it can be invested + with security and profit in India; a purpose that will be + furthered by the provision of increased facilities for banking and + credit. Labor, though abundant, is handicapped by still pursuing + uneconomical methods, and its output would be greatly increased by + the extended use of machinery. We have no doubt that there is an + immense scope for the application of scientific methods. + Conditions are ripe for the development of new and for the revival + of old industries, and the real enthusiasm for industries which is + not confined to the ambitions of a few individuals but rests on + the general desire to see Indian capital and labour applied + jointly to the good of the country, seem to us the happiest + augury." + +The views of educated India about fiscal policy have been very +faithfully reproduced in Paragraphs 341 and 342, which also we reproduce +almost bodily: + + "Connected intimately with the matter of industries is the + question of the Indian tariff. This subject was excluded from the + deliberations of the Industrial Commission now sitting because it + was not desirable at that juncture to raise any question of the + modification of India's fiscal policy; but its exclusion was none + the less the object of some legitimate criticism in India. The + changes which we propose in the Government of India will still + leave the settlement of India's tariff in the hands of a + government amenable to Parliament and the Secretary of State; but + inasmuch as the tariff reacts on many matters which will + henceforth come more and more under Indian control, we think it + well that we should put forward for the information of His + Majesty's Government the views of educated Indians upon this + subject. We have no immediate proposals to make; we are anxious + merely that any decisions which may hereafter be taken should be + taken with full appreciation of educated Indian opinion. + + "The theoretical free trader, we believe, hardly exists in India + at present. As was shown by the debates in the Indian Legislative + Council in March, 1913, educated Indian opinion ardently desires a + tariff. It rightly wishes to find another substantial basis than + that of the land for Indian revenues, and it turns to a tariff to + provide one. Desiring industries which will give him Indian-made + clothes to wear and Indian-made articles to use, the educated + Indian looks to the example of other countries which have relied + on tariffs, and seizes on the admission of even free traders that + for the nourishment of nascent industries a tariff is permissible. + We do not know whether he pauses to reflect that these industries + will be largely financed by foreign capital attracted by the + tariff, although we have evidence that he has not learned to + appreciate the advantages of foreign capital. But whatever + economic fallacy underlies his reasoning, these are his firm + beliefs; and though he may be willing to concede the possibility + that he is wrong, he will not readily concede that it is our + business to decide the matter for him. He believes that as long as + we continue to decide for him we shall decide in the interests of + England and not according to his wishes; and he points to the + debate in the House of Commons on the differentiation of the + cotton excise in support of his contention. So long as the people + who refuse India protection are interested in manufactures with + which India might compete, Indian opinion cannot bring itself to + believe that the refusal is disinterested or dictated by care for + the best interests of India. This real and keen desire for fiscal + autonomy does not mean that educated opinion in India is unmindful + of Imperial obligations...." + +These admissions should put India's claims for fiscal autonomy beyond +the range of doubt and dispute, but so strange are the ways of modern +statesmanship that consistency and logic are not the necessary +accompaniments thereof. + +The authors have advanced another very strong argument for the economic +development of India, viz., "military value," which makes the case +conclusive. This argument has been supplied by the Great War and is so +well known that we need not state it in their words. + +If India is to prosper and take her legitimate place in the British +Commonwealth, and in the great family of Nations of the World, it is +absolutely necessary that she should be given complete fiscal freedom to +manage her own affairs, develop her own industries and do her own +trading. Considering her size and resources, it wounds her self-respect +and makes her feel exceedingly mean and small to go begging for alms and +charity every time there is a failure of rains and the cry of famine is +raised. + +For a nation of 315 millions of human beings living in a country which +nature has endowed with all its choicest blessings, rich and fertile +soil, plenty of water and sun, an abundant supply of metals and coal, +willing labor, artistic skill and a power of manipulating for beauty and +elegance unexcelled in the world--to exist in pitiful economic +dependence is a condition most deplorable and most pathetic. We want no +charity, no concessions, no favors, no preference. What we most +earnestly beg and ask for is an _opportunity_. + + For a synopsis of the findings and recommendations of the + Industrial Commission mentioned in this chapter see appendix 1. + + + + +XII + +THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT + + +In December, 1917, the Government of India appointed a committee of +three Englishmen and two Indians (1) "to investigate and report on the +nature and extent of the criminal conspiracies connected with the +revolutionary movements in India, (2) to examine and consider the +difficulties that have arisen in dealing with such conspiracies and to +advise as to the legislation, if any, necessary to enable the government +to deal effectively with them." Of the three English members, Mr. +Justice Rowlatt of the King's Bench Division, England, was appointed as +president, and of the other two, one was a judge in the service of the +Government and the other a member of a Board of Revenue in one of the +Indian Provinces. Of the two Indians, one was a judge and the other a +practicing lawyer. + +This committee submitted its report in April, 1918, which was published +by the Government of India in July of the same year. The president, Mr. +Justice Rowlatt's letter covering the report gives the nature of the +evidence upon which their report is based, which is as follows: +"Statements have been placed before us with documentary evidence by the +Governments of Bengal, Bombay, Bihar and Orissa, the Central Provinces, +the United Provinces, the Punjab and Burmah as well as by the +Government of India. In every case, except that of Madras, we were +further attended by officers of the government, presenting this +statement, who gave evidence before us. In the two provinces in which we +held sittings, namely, Bengal and Punjab, we further invited and secured +the attendance of individuals, or as deputed by associations, of +gentlemen who we thought might give us information from various +non-official points of view." + +It is clear from this statement that the investigation of the committee +was neither judicial nor even semi-judicial; it was a purely +administrative inquiry conducted behind the backs of the individuals +concerned, without the latter having any opportunity of cross-examining +the witnesses or giving their explanations of the evidence against them. +While the different Governments in India were fully represented in each +case by the ablest of their servants, the individuals investigated were +not. We do not want to insinuate that either the Governments or the +officers deputed by them were unfair in their evidence. All that we want +to point out is that the other side had no opportunity of putting their +case before the committee. Consequently, it is no wonder that one comes +across many traces of political and racial bias both in the introduction +and the Report. + +The very first paragraph of the introduction betrays either ignorance on +the part of the committee about the ancient history of India, or a +deliberate misrepresentation of the nature of the Hindu State. The +committee says: "Republican or Parliamentary forms of governments as at +present understood were neither desired nor known in India until after +the establishment of British rule. In the Hindu State the form of +government was an absolute monarchy, though the monarch was by the Hindu +Shastras hedged round by elaborate rules for securing the welfare of his +subjects and was assisted by a body of councillors, the chief of whom +were Brahmin members of the priestly class which derived authority from +a time when the priests were the sole repositories of knowledge and +therefore the natural instruments of administration." The statements +made in this paragraph do not represent the whole truth. + +The committee ignores the fact that Republican or Parliamentary forms of +Government "_as at present understood_" were neither desired nor known +in any part of the world, except perhaps England itself until _after_ +the establishment of British rule in India.[1] Then the committee has +altogether ignored that, in the Hindu State, the form of government was +not an absolute monarchy _always and in all parts of India_. There is +ample historical evidence to prove that India had many Republican +States, along with oligarchies and monarchies at one and the same period +of her history. The second part of the second sentence is also not +correct, because the priestly class derived its authority from a time +when the priests were not the sole repositories of knowledge. The +several Hindu political treatises belong to a period when the whole +populace was highly educated and could take substantial part in the +determination of the affairs of their country. + +Equally misleading is the last sentence of the introduction where the +committee says that it is among the Chitpavan Brahmins of the Poona +district that they first find indications of a revolutionary movement. +This statement is incorrect, if it means that after the establishment of +British rule in India no attempt had been made to overthrow it prior to +the Revolutionary movement inaugurated by the Poona Brahmins. The +statement ignores three such attempts which are known to history; viz., +(_a_) the great Mutiny of 1857, (_b_) the Wahábee Rebellion of Bengal, +and (_c_) the Kúká Rebellion of the Punjab; not to mention other minor +attempts made in other places by other people. + +Yet we think that this report is a very valuable document, giving in one +place the history and the progress of the Revolutionary Movement in +India. The findings and the recommendations of the committee may not be +all correct, but the material collected and published for the first time +is too valuable to be neglected by anyone who wants to have an +intelligent grasp of the political situation in India, such as has +developed within the last twenty years. + +The committee gives a summary of its conclusions as to the conspiracies +in Chapter XV, which we copy verbatim: + + "In Bombay they have been purely Brahmin and mostly Chitpavan. In + Bengal the conspirators have been young men belonging to the + educated middle classes. Their propaganda has been elaborate, + persistent and ingenious. In their own province it has produced a + long series of murders and robberies. In Bihar and Orissa, the + United Provinces, the Central Provinces and Madras, it took no + root, but occasionally led to crime and disorder. In the Punjab + the return of emigrants from America, bent on revolution and + bloodshed, produced numerous outrages and the _Ghadr_ conspiracy + of 1915. In Burma, too, the _Ghadr_ movement was active, but was + arrested. + + "Finally came a Mohammedan conspiracy confined to a small clique + of fanatics and designed to overthrow British rule with foreign + aid. + + "All these plots have been directed towards one and the same + objective, the overthrow by force of British rule in India. + Sometimes they have been isolated; sometimes they have been + interconnected; sometimes they have been encouraged and supported + by German influence. All have been successfully encountered with + the support of Indian loyalty." + +In this general summary the committee has made no attempt to trace out +the causes that led to the inauguration of the revolutionary movement +and its subsequent progress. A chapter on that subject would have been +most illuminating. + +In chapters dealing with provinces they have selected some individuals +and classes on whom to lay blame for "incitements" to murders and +crimes, but have entirely failed to analyze the social, political and +economic conditions which made such incitements and their success +possible. + +It is clear even from this summary that the only two provinces where the +revolutionary propaganda took root and resulted in more than occasional +outrages were Bengal and the Punjab. + +In the Bombay Presidency, revolutionary outrages did not exceed three +within a period of 20 years (from 1897 to 1917), two murders and one +bomb-throwing. Besides, three trials for conspiracies are mentioned all +within a year (1909-1910), two in Native States and one in British +territory. Altogether 82 men were prosecuted for being involved in these +conspiracies. The total result comes to this, that in the course of 20 +years about 100 persons were found to be involved in a revolutionary +movement in a territory embracing an area of 186,923 square miles and a +population of 27 million human beings. This is surely by no means a +formidable record justifying extraordinary legislation such as is +proposed.[2] The net loss of human life did not exceed three, though +unfortunately all three victims were Europeans. + +Bihar and Orissa formed part of the province of Bengal during most of +the period covered by the revolutionary movement of Bengal, viz., from +1906 to 1917. It was in Bihar which was then a part of Bengal, that in +1908, the first bomb was thrown. The only other revolutionary outrage +that took place in Bihar was one in 1913, resulting in the murder of two +Indians. + +In the United Provinces of Agra and Oude, the only tangible evidence of +revolutionary activity recorded by the committee is the Benares +Conspiracy that came to light in 1915-1916. The only outrage noted is +that of the alleged murder of a fellow revolutionary by a member of the +same gang. + +To the Central provinces the committee has given a practically clean +bill. + +In Madras the revolutionary outrages consisted of one murder (of a +European Magistrate) and one conspiracy involving nine persons. + +The conspiracies and intrigues detected in Burma are ascribed to people +of other provinces and not a single outrage from that province itself is +reported. + +So we find that in the period from 1906 to 1907, both inclusive, +outside the provinces of Bengal and the Punjab, the revolutionary crime +was limited to three outrages and three conspiracies in the Bombay +Presidency, one outrage in Bihar, one outrage and one conspiracy in the +United Provinces, one outrage and one conspiracy in Madras and some +intrigues and conspiracies during the war in Burma. Thus the only two +provinces in which the revolutionary movement established itself to any +appreciable extent was Bengal and the Punjab. + +In the Punjab, again, the first revolutionary crime took place in +December, 1912, and the second in 1913 and the rest all during the War. +Cases of seditious utterances and writings are not included in the term +"revolutionary crime" used in the above paragraphs. It was from Bengal, +then, that before the War revolutionary propaganda was carried on to any +large extent, revolutionary movements organized and revolutionary crimes +committed. About half of the Report deals with Bengal and the general +findings of the committee may be thus summarized: + +(1) That the object of the movement was the overturning of "the British +government in India by violent means" (p. 15 and also p. 19). + +(2) That the class among whom the movement spread was comprised of the +_Bhadralok_ (the respectable middle class). The committee says: + + "The people among whom he (i.e., Barendra, the first Bengali + revolutionary propagandist) worked, the _bhadralok_ of Bengal, + have been for centuries peaceful and unwarlike, but, through the + influence of the great central city of Calcutta, were early in + appreciating the advantages of Western learning. They are mainly + Hindus and their leading castes are Brahmins, Kayasthas and + Vaidyas; but with the spread of English education some other + castes too have adopted _bhadralok_ ideals and modes of life. + _Bhadralok_ abound in villages as well as in towns, and are thus + more interwoven with the landed classes than are the literate + Indians of other provinces. Wherever they live or settle, they + earnestly desire and often provide English education for their + sons. The consequence is that a number of Anglo-vernacular + schools, largely maintained by private enterprise, have sprung up + throughout the towns and villages of Bengal. No other province of + India possesses a network of rural schools in which English is + taught. These schools are due to the enterprise of the _bhadralok_ + and to the fact that, as British rule gradually spread from Bengal + over Northern India, the scope of employment for English-educated + Bengalis spread with it. Originally they predominated in all + offices and higher grade schools throughout Upper India. They were + also, with the Parsees, the first Indians to send their sons to + England for education, to qualify for the Bar, or to compete for + the higher grades of the Civil and Medical services. When, + however, similar classes in other provinces also acquired a + working knowledge of English, the field for Bengali enterprise + gradually shrank. In their own province _bhadralok_ still almost + monopolize the clerical and subordinate administrative services of + Government. They are prominent in medicine, in teaching and at the + Bar. But, in spite of these advantages, they have felt the + shrinkage of foreign employment; and as the education which they + receive is generally literary and ill-adapted to incline the + youthful mind to industrial, commercial or agricultural pursuits, + they have not succeeded in finding fresh outlets for their + energies. Their hold on land, too, has weakened, owing to + increasing pressure of population and excessive sub-infeudation. + _Altogether their economic prospects have narrowed, and the + increasing numbers who draw fixed incomes have felt the pinch of + rising prices. On the other hand, the memories and associations + of their earlier prosperity, combined with growing contact with + Western ideas and standards of comfort, have raised their + expectations of the pecuniary remuneration which should reward a + laborious and, to their minds, a costly education._ Thus as + _bhadralok_ learned in English have become more and more numerous, + a growing number have become less and less inclined to accept the + conditions of life in which they found themselves on reaching + manhood. _Bhadralok_ have always been prominent among the + supporters of Indian political movements; and their leaders have + watched with careful attention events in the world outside India. + The large majority of the people of Bengal are not _bhadralok_ but + cultivators, and in the eastern districts mainly Muhammadans; but + the cultivators of the province are absorbed in their own + pursuits, in litigation, and in religious and caste observances. + It was not to them but to his own class that Barendra appealed. + When he renewed his efforts in 1904, the thoughts of many members + of this class had been stirred by various powerful influences." + [The italics are ours.] + +We have given this lengthy extract as it shows conclusively (_a_) that +the movement originated and spread among people who had received Western +education, most of the leaders having been educated in England and (_b_) +that the root cause of the movement was _economic_. + +(3) That various circumstances occasioned by certain Government measures +"specially favored the development" of the movement (p. 16). Among the +measures specially mentioned are (_a_) the University law of Lord Curzon +"which was interpreted by politicians as designed to limit the numbers +of Indians educated in English and thus to retard national advance"; +(_b_) the partition of Bengal by Lord Curzon. "It was the agitation +that attended and followed on this measure that brought previous +discontent to a climax." + +(4) That the revolutionary movement received a substantial impetus by +the failure of constitutional agitation for the reversal of the policy +that decided on partitioning Bengal into two divisions. This failure led +to two different kinds of agitation, open and secret: (_a_) open +economic defiance by _Swadeshi_ and boycott--_Swadeshi_ was the +affirmative and boycott the negative form of the same movement. +_Swadeshi_ enjoined the use of country made articles; boycott was +directed against English imports, (_b_) open propaganda by a more +outspoken and in some instances violent press, (_c_) open control of +educational agencies by means of national institutions, (_d_) open +stimulus to physical education and physical culture, (_e_) nationalistic +interpretation of religious dogma and forms (open), (_f_) organization +of secret societies for more violent propaganda, for learning and +teaching the use of firearms, for the manufacture of bombs, for illicit +purchase and stealing of firearms, for assassination and murder, (_g_) +secret attempts to tamper with the army, (_h_) conspiracies for +terroristic purposes and for obtaining sinews of war by theft, robbery +and extortion. + +The following two extracts which the committee has taken from one of the +publications of the revolutionary party called _Mukti Kon Pathe_ (what +is the path of salvation) will explain clauses (_f_) and (_g_) and +(_h_). + + "The book further points out that not much muscle was required to + shoot Europeans, that arms could be procured by grim + determination, and that weapons could be prepared silently in + some secret place. Indians could be sent to foreign countries to + learn the art of making weapons. The assistance of Indian soldiers + must be obtained. They must be made to understand the misery and + wretchedness of the country. The heroism of Sivaji must be + remembered. As long as revolutionary work remained in its infancy, + expenses could be met by subscriptions. But as work advanced, + money must be extracted from society by the application of force. + If the revolution is being brought about for the welfare of + society, then it is perfectly just to collect money from society + for that purpose. It is admitted that theft and dacoity are crimes + because they violate the principle of good society. But the + political dacoit is aiming at the good of society, "so no sin but + rather virtue attaches to the destruction of this small good for + the sake of some higher good. Therefore if revolutionaries extort + money from the miserly or luxurious members of society by the + application of force, their conduct is perfectly just." + + _Mukti Kon Pathe_ further exhorts its readers to obtain the "help + of the native soldiers.... Although these soldiers for the sake of + their stomach accept service in the Government of the ruling + power, still they are nothing but men made of flesh and blood. + They, too, know (how) to think; when therefore the revolutionaries + explain to them the woes and miseries of the country, they, in + proper time, swell the ranks of the revolutionaries with arms and + weapons given them by the ruling power.... Because it is possible + to persuade the soldiers in this way, the modern English Raj of + India does not allow the cunning Bengalis to enter into the ranks + of the army.... Aid in the shape of arms may be secretly obtained + by securing the help of the foreign ruling powers." + +(5) That except in five cases the idea of private gain never entered +into the activities of the revolutionaries and of the five persons +referred to three were taxi-cab drivers either hired or coerced to +coöperate in revolutionary enterprise (p. 20). + +(6) That "the circumstances that robberies and murders are being +committed by young men of respectable extraction, students at schools +and colleges, is indeed an amazing phenomenon the occurrence of which in +most countries would be hardly credible." + +(7) That "since the year 1906 revolutionary outrages in Bengal have +numbered 210 and attempts at committing such outrages have amounted to +101. Definite information is in the hands of the police of the +complicity of no less than 1038 persons in these offences. But of these, +only 84 persons have been convicted of specified crimes in 39 +prosecutions, and of these persons, 30 were tried by tribunals +constituted under the Defence of India Act. Ten attempts have been made +to strike at revolutionary conspiracies by means of prosecutions +directed against groups or branches. In these prosecutions 192 persons +were involved, 63 of whom were convicted. Eighty-two revolutionaries +have rendered themselves liable to be bound over to be of good behaviour +under the preventive sections of the Criminal Procedure Code. In regard +to 51 of these, there is direct evidence of complicity in outrages. +There have, moreover, been 59 prosecutions under the Arms and Explosives +Acts which have resulted in convictions of 58 persons." + +We wish the committee had also supplemented this information by a +complete record of the punishments that were imposed on persons +convicted of revolutionary crime in the ten years from 1906 to 1917. We +are sure such a statement would have been most informing and +illuminating. It would have conclusively established the soundness of +the half-hearted finding that "the convictions ... did not have as much +effect as might have been expected in repressing crime." In fact they +had no effect. They only added fuel to the fire. + +(8) That persons involved in revolutionary crime belonged to all castes +and occupations and the vast bulk of them were non-Brahmins. They were +of all ages, from 10-15 to over 45, the majority being under 25. The +committee has in an appendix (p. 93) given three tables of statistics as +to age, caste, occupation or profession of persons convicted in Bengal +of revolutionary crimes or killed in commission of such crimes during +the years 1907-1917. This clause is based on these statistics. + +We are afraid, however, that these statistics do not afford quite a +correct index of the age, caste, occupation and position of all the +people in Bengal that were and are sympathetically interested in the +revolutionary movement of Bengal. + +In investigating reasons for failure of ordinary machinery for the +prevention, detection and punishment of crime in Bengal, the committee +has assigned six reasons: (_a_) want of evidence, (_b_) paucity of +police, (_c_) facilities enjoyed by criminals, (_d_) difficulty in proof +of possession of arms, etc., (_e_) distrust of evidence, (_f_) the +uselessness, in general, of confession made to the Police. These +reasons, however, do not represent the whole truth. Some of the most +daring crimes were committed in broad daylight, in much frequented +streets of the metropolis and in the presence of numerous people. +Moreover, the Government did not depend on ordinary law. Measure after +measure was enacted to expedite and facilitate convictions. +Extraordinary provisions were made to meet all the difficulties pointed +out by the committee and extraordinary sentences were given in the case +of conviction. Yet the Government failed either to extirpate the +movement or to check it effectively or to bring the majority of +offenders to book. + +The members of the committee have frankly admitted: "That we do not +expect very much from punitive measures. The conviction of offenders +will never check such a movement as that which grew up in Bengal unless +the leaders can be convicted at the outset." They pin their faith on +"preventive" measures recommended by them. It was perhaps not within +their scope to say that the most effective preventive measure was the +removal of the political and economic causes that had generated the +movement. The committee has studiously avoided discussing that important +point, but now and then they have incidentally furnished the real clue +to the situation. Discussing the "accessibility of Bengal schools and +colleges to Revolutionary influences," they quote a passage from one of +the reports of the Director of Public Instruction in Bengal. We copy +below the whole of this paragraph, as, to us, it seems to be very +pertinent to the issue. + + "_Accessibility of Bengal Schools and Colleges to Revolutionary + Influences._--Abundant evidence has compelled us to the conclusion + that the secondary English schools, and in a less degree the + colleges, of Bengal have been regarded by the revolutionaries as + their most fruitful recruiting centres. Dispersed as these + schools are far and wide throughout the Province, sometimes + clustering in a town, sometimes isolated in the far-away villages + of the eastern water-country, they form natural objects for + attack; and as is apparent from the reports of the Department of + Public Instruction, they have been attacked for years with no + small degree of success. In these reports the Director has from + time to time noticed such matters as the circulation of seditious + leaflets, the number of students implicated in conspiracy cases + and the apathy of parents and guardians. But perhaps his most + instructive passages are the following, in which he sets out the + whole situation in regard to secondary English schools. 'The + number of these schools,' he wrote, 'is rapidly increasing, and + the cry is for more and more. It is a demand for tickets in a + lottery, the prizes of which are posts in Government service and + employment in certain professions. _The bhadralok have nothing to + look to but these posts_, while those who desire to rise from a + lower social or economic station have their eyes on the same goal. + _The middle classes in Bengal are generally poor, and the + increased stress of competition and the tendency for the average + earnings of certain careers to decrease_--a tendency which is + bound to follow on the increased demand to enter them, _coupled + with the rise in the cost of living and the inevitable raising in + the standard of comfort--all these features continue to make the + struggle to exist in these classes keener_. Hence the need to + raise educational standards, to make school life a greater + influence for good and the course of instruction more thorough and + more comprehensive. A need which becomes more and more imperative + as life in India becomes more complicated and more exacting is + confronted by a determined though perfectly natural opposition to + the raising of fees.... _Probably the worst feature of the + situation is the low wages and the complete absence of prospects + which are the fate of teachers in the secondary schools...._ It is + easy to blame the parents for blindness to their sons' true good, + but the matriculation examination is the thing that seems to + matter, so that if his boy passes the annual promotion + examinations and is duly presented at that examination at the + earliest possible date, the average parent has no criticism to + offer. This is perfectly natural, but the future of Bengal depends + to a not inconsiderable extent on the work done in its secondary + schools, and more is required of these institutions than an + ability to pass a certain proportion of boys through the Calcutta + University Matriculation examination.... The present condition of + secondary schools is undoubtedly prejudicing the development of + the presidency and is by no means a negligible feature in the + existing state of general disturbance. It is customary to trace + the genesis of much sedition and crime to the back streets and + lanes of Calcutta and Dacca, where the organizers of anarchic + conspiracies seek their agents from among University students. + This view is correct as far as it goes, but it is in the high + schools, with their underpaid and discontented teachers, their + crowded, dark and ill-ventilated classrooms, and their + soul-destroying process of unceasing cram, that the seeds of + discontent and fanaticism are sown." [The italics are ours.] + +Yet for years nothing was done to improve education, to make it +practical and creative and productive. In fact nothing has been done up +till now. + +Let the reader read with this the report of the Indian Industrial +Commission recently issued under the authority of the Government of +India and he will at once find the true causes which underlie the +revolutionary movement in India. These causes are not in any way +peculiar to Bengal or to the Punjab; they are common to the whole of +India, but they have found a fruitful soil in these provinces on account +of the rather intense natures of the people of these two provinces. The +Bengali is an intensely patriotic and emotional being, very sensitive +and very resentful; the Punjabee is intensely virile, passionate and +plucky, having developed a strong, forceful character by centuries of +resistance to all kind of invasions and attacks. Of the Punjab, however, +we will speak later on. For the present we are concerned with Bengal +only. The amazing phenomenon mentioned by the committee on p. 20 and +referred to by us before is easily explained by the facts hinted in the +Directors' report quoted above. And this notwithstanding the fact that +in the matter of Government patronage Bengal has been the most favored +province in India, throughout the period of British rule. To the +Bengalis have gone all the first appointments to offices that were +thrown open to the natives of the soil. They have been the recipients of +the highest honors from the Government. Bengal is virtually the only +province permanently settled where the Government cannot add to the Land +tax fixed in 1793. The Bengalis are the people who spread over India, +with every territorial extension of the British Raj. They have been the +pampered and favored children of the Government and for very good +reasons, too. They are the best educated and the most intelligent of all +the Indian peoples. They know how to adapt themselves to all conditions +and circumstances, they know how to enjoy and also how to suffer. They +have subtle brains and supple bodies. The British Government could not +do without them. It cannot do without them even now. Yet it was this +most loyal and most dutiful, this most westernized and the best educated +class which laid the foundations of the revolutionary movement and has +been carrying it on _successfully_ in face of all the forces of such a +mighty Government as that of the British in India. What is the reason? +It is the utter economic helplessness of the younger generation, aided +by a sense of extreme humiliation and degradation. The Government never +earnestly applied itself to the solution of the problem. They did +nothing to reduce poverty and make education practical. Every time the +budget was discussed the Indian members pressed for increased +expenditure on education. All their proposals and motions were rejected +by the standing official majorities backed by the whole force of +non-official Europeans including the missionaries. The Government thus +deliberately sowed the wind. Is there any wonder that it is now reaping +the whirlwind? + +The cause is economic; the remedy must be economic. Make education +practical, foster industries, open all Government careers to the sons of +the soil, reduce the cost on the military and civil services, let the +people determine the fiscal policy of the country and the revolutionary +movement will subside. Die it will not, so long as there is foreign +domination and foreign exploitation. Even after India has attained Home +Rule it will not die. It has come to stay. India is a part of the world +and revolution is in the air all the world over. The effort to kill it +by repression and suppression is futile, unwise and stupid. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The beginnings of British rule in India were made in 1757 A.D. + +[2] Since enacted. + + + + +XIII + +THE PUNJAB + + +We may now consider the case of the Punjab. Lord Morley's verdict +notwithstanding, it is abundantly clear that the troubles of 1907, with +which the history of unrest in the Punjab begins, were principally +agrarian in their origin. Lord Morley's speech in the House of Commons +(in 1907) as to the root of the trouble was based on reports supplied to +him by the Government of the Punjab and we know from personal knowledge +how unreliable many of these reports are. We may here illustrate this +point by a few extracts from these documents. + + (1) Lord Morley stated that: "There were twenty-eight meetings + known to have been held by the leading agitators in the Punjab + between 1st March and 1st May. Of these five only related, even + ostensibly, to agricultural grievances; the remaining twenty-three + were all purely political." + +The number of meetings held from March 1 to May 1, 1907 was, at the +lowest calculation, at least double of 28, or perhaps treble, and _most +of them_ related "even ostensibly to agricultural grievances"; the +number of purely political meetings could not have exceeded ten or +twelve. + +(2) On p. 61 the committee writes that "Chatarji's father too had +ordered him home on discovering that he was staying with Hardayal in the +house of Lajpat Rai." The whole of this statement is absolutely false. I +am prepared to swear and to prove that Chatarji did not stay in my house +even for a single night. He came there a few times with Hardayal. +Hardayal was at that time living in a house he had rented for himself in +the native city about one mile from my place which is in the Civil +Station on the Lower Mall. + +On the same page the committee has approvingly quoted a sentence from +the judgment of the Sessions Judge in the Delhi Conspiracy Case. +Speaking of Amir Chand, one of the accused in that case who was +sentenced to death, the Sessions Judge describes him as "one who spent +his life in furthering murderous schemes which he was too timid to carry +out himself." Now I happen to have known this man for about 20 years +before his conviction. I have no doubt that he was rightly convicted in +this case but I have no doubt also that this description of him by the +Sessions Judge was absolutely wrong. Up till 1910 the man had led an +absolutely harmless life, helping students in their studies and +otherwise rendering assistance, according to his means, to other needy +people. No one ever credited him with violent views. His revolutionary +career began in 1908. Before that he could not and would not have +tolerated even the killing of an ant, much less that of human beings. + +In governments by bureaucracies one of the standing formulas of official +etiquette is never to question the findings of facts arrived at by your +superiors or predecessors. This naturally leads to the perpetuation of +mistakes. A wrong conclusion once accepted continues to be good for all +times to come. The Rowlatt Committee has studiously acted on that +formula throughout its present inquiry. They have invariably accepted +the findings of executive and judicial authorities preceding them about +the incidents that happened since 1907, without making any independent +inquiry of their own. Hence their opinion about the original or the +principal cause of the unrest of 1907 in the Punjab is not entitled to +greater weight than that of the Punjab officials whose mishandling of +the affairs of the province produced the unrest. One ounce of fact, +however, is of greater weight in the determination of issues than even a +hundred theories. The fact that the Government of India _had_ to veto +the Punjab Government's Land Colonies Act in order to allay the unrest +proves conclusively that the unrest was due to agrarian trouble. + +The unrest of 1907 subsided after the repeal of the land legislation of +1907, but the legacy it left is still operative. + +The Sikhs and the Mussulmans of the Punjab, as well as the military +classes among the Hindus, the Rajputs and the Jats, are the most virile +portions of the population. They have fought the battles of the Empire. +In the interests of the Empire they have travelled far and wide. Yet we +find that educationally, as well as economically, they have suffered +most. They have the largest numbers of illiterates among them. They are +the least developed and the least progressive of all the classes in the +Punjab. They are heavily in debt. The Government has occasionally +recognised it and has tried to satisfy them by preferential treatment +in the filling of Government posts, or in the bestowal of titles or in +nominating their supposed leaders to Legislative Councils. These +ridiculous palliative measures, however, have failed in their objective. +The classes disaffected do not get any satisfaction by these palliative +measures. They need opportunities of education and economic betterment. +These could not be provided without making education general and without +a more equitable distribution of land among the agricultural classes and +the inauguration of industries other than agriculture. This the +Government never cared to do. The Sikhs and the Mussulmans naturally +directed their attention to emigration. + +The opportunities they found in other parts of the Empire whetted their +appetites. They compared the conditions abroad with conditions at home +and drew their own conclusions. Having helped in the expansion and +development of the Empire they thought they were entitled to benefit +therefrom. They demanded fair treatment. Instead they found the doors +shut upon them. Even those that had been admitted were made to feel the +humiliation of their position. Deliberate, active, concerted measures +were taken to drive them away or to make life for them intolerable. +Their wives and children were refused admittance and various pretexts +were invented to keep them out or to drive them away. The revolutionary +movement in the Punjab amounted to nothing until it was reinforced by +the return of the Sikh members of the Ghadr party during the war. The +Committee has failed to answer the question: Why did the Sikhs of +Vancouver and California readily fall in with the schemes of Hardayal +and Barkat Ullah, the alleged founders of the revolutionary party of +California? These latter had nothing in common with the Sikhs. In +language and religion, by habits and associations, they were poles apart +from each other. Why did then Hardayal's propaganda find such a ready +soil among the Sikhs of Vancouver B. C. We quote from the report: + + "The doctrines which he preached and circulated had reached the + Sikhs and other Indians resident in British Columbia. At a meeting + in Vancouver in December, 1913, a poem from the Ghadr newspaper + was read, in which the Hindus were urged to expel the British from + India. The main grievance of the Vancouver Indians was the + Canadian immigration law under which every intending Asiatic + immigrant, with a few particular exceptions, has to satisfy the + Canadian authorities that he is in possession of 200 dollars and + has travelled by a _continuous_[1] journey on a through ticket + from his native country to Canada. In 1913 three Sikh delegates + visited the Punjab. They had come from America and were members of + the Ghadr party who had come to reconnoitre the position. Their + real purpose was recognised after their departure. They addressed + meetings at various towns on the subject of the grievances of + Indians in Canada and caused resolutions of protest to be passed + in which all communities joined." + +Again, tracing the origin of the Budge-Budge riot, the Committee +remarks: + + "The central figure in the narrative is a certain Gurdit Singh, a + Sikh of the Amritsar district in the Punjab, who had emigrated + from India 15 years before, and had for some time carried on + business as a contractor in Singapore and the Malay States. There + is reason to believe that he returned to this country about 1909. + He was certainly absent from Singapore for a space; and when he + returned there, going on to Hong Kong, he interested himself in + chartering a ship for the conveyance of Punjabis to Canada. + Punjabis, and especially Sikhs, frequently seek employment in the + Far East, and have for some time been tempted by the higher wages + procurable in Canada. But their admission to that country is to + some extent impeded by the immigration laws which we have + described already. + + "There were already in Canada about 4,000 Indians, chiefly + Punjabis. Some of these were revolutionists of the Hardayal + school, some were loyal, and some had migrated from the United + States on account of labour differences there. The Committee of + Enquiry, which subsequently investigated the whole affair, + considered that Gurdit Singh's action had been much influenced by + advice and encouragement received from Indian residents in Canada. + At any rate, after failing to secure a ship at Calcutta, he + chartered a Japanese vessel named the _Komagata Maru_ through a + German agent at Hong Kong. He issued tickets and took in + passengers at that post, at Shanghai, at Moji and at Yokohama. He + certainly knew what the Canadian law was, but perhaps hoped to + evade it by means of some appeal to the courts or by exercising + political pressure. It is equally certain that many of his + passengers had no clear comprehension of their prospects. The + Tribunal that subsequently tried the first batch of Lahore + conspirators held that probably Gurdit Singh's main object was to + cause an inflammatory episode, as one of the witnesses stated that + Gurdit Singh told his followers that should they be refused + admission, they would return to India to expel the British. On + April the 4th, 1914, the _Komagata Maru_ sailed from Hong Kong. On + the 23rd of May the _Komagata Maru_ arrived at Vancouver with 351 + Sikhs and 21 Punjabi Muhammadans on board. The local authorities + refused to allow landing except in a very few cases, as the + immigrants had not complied with the requirements of the law. + Protests were made, and, while negotiations were proceeding, a + balance of 22,000 dollars still due for the hire of the ship was + paid by Vancouver Indians, and the charter was transferred to two + prominent malcontents.... A body of police was sent to enforce the + orders of the Canadian Government that the vessel should leave; + but with the assistance of firearms, the police were beaten off, + and it was only when a Government vessel was requisitioned with + armed force that the _Komagata Maru_ passengers, who had prevented + their Captain from weighing anchor or getting up steam, were + brought to terms. On the 23rd of July they started on their return + journey with an ample stock of provisions allowed them by the + Canadian Government. _They were by this time in a very bad temper + as many had staked all their possessions on this venture, and had + started in the full belief that the British Government would + assure and guarantee their admission to a land of plenty._ This + temper had been greatly aggravated by direct revolutionary + influences.... + + "During the return voyage the War broke out. On hearing at + Yokohama that his ship's company would not be allowed to land at + Hong Kong, Gurdit Singh replied that they were perfectly willing + to go to any port in India if provisions were supplied. The + British Consul at Yokohama declined to meet his demands, which + were exorbitant; but the consul at Kobe was more compliant, and + after telegraphic communication between Japan and India, the + _Komagata Maru_ started for Calcutta. At neither Hong Kong nor + Singapore were the passengers allowed to land. This added to their + annoyance, as, according to the findings of the Committee, many + had not wished to return to India at all." + + The Committee found that most of the passengers were disposed to + blame the Government of India for all their misfortunes. "It is + well known," states the Report, "that the average Indian makes no + distinction between the Government of the United Kingdom, that of + Canada, and that of British India, or that of any colony. To him + these authorities are all one and the same. And this view of the + whole _Komagata Maru_ business was by no means confined to the + passengers on the ship. It inspired some Sikhs of the Punjab with + the idea that the Government was biased against them; and it + strengthened the hands of the Ghadr revolutionaries who were + urging Sikhs abroad to return to India and join the mutiny which, + they asserted, was about to begin. Numbers of emigrants listened + to such calls and hastened back to India from Canada, the United + States, the Philippines, Hong Kong and China." [The italics are + ours.] + +We have given this extract to show the real cause of the growth of the +revolutionary movement among the Sikhs. Let the reader omit, if he can, +for a moment, all references to active revolutionary propaganda and he +will find that the underlying cause of this trouble was _economic_. Why +did the Sikhs want to emigrate to Canada? Why did they stake all their +possessions on the venture? Why were they unwilling to return to India +at all? Because the economic conditions at home were so bad and the +prospects abroad so good. At home their lands were not sufficient to +absorb all their energies, the income was not sufficient to keep body +and soul together and, in a majority of cases, what they made from land +was hardly more than sufficient to pay Land Revenue to the Government +and interest to the money-lender. There was nothing to bind them to +their homes except the love of home land and the domestic ties. These +melted away in the presence of dire necessity. In extreme need they +left their homes to make more money to be able to pay their debts, to +redeem their lands, if possible to purchase more land and to make life +bearable and tolerable. When they came in the open world they found +insurmountable barriers between them and plenty. They had helped in +making the empire; the empire had enough land for all her sons and +daughters; men were urgently needed to bring land into cultivation and +otherwise to develop the empire; men of other races and colours were not +only welcome but were being induced to come and settle by offers of all +kinds. They, and they alone, were unwelcome and barred. + +Add to this the attitude and the record of the Punjab Government towards +political agitation and political agitators, to use their own favorite +expressions. The Punjab Government was the first to resuscitate the old +Regulation III of 1818 for the purpose of scotching a legitimate +agitation against an obnoxious legislative measure. A wise and sagacious +Government would have dropped the legislation which it was eventually +found necessary to veto to maintain peace. The deportations drove the +seeds of unrest deeper. The other contributory causes may be thus summed +up: + +(1) The Punjab Government has been the most relentless of all local +governments in India in suppressing freedom of speech and press. + +(2) The Punjab Government at one time was very foolishly zealous in +persecuting the Arya Samajists and in making a mountain out of a +molehill about the letters found in the possession of Parmanand. + +(3) The sentences which the Punjab Courts have passed in cases of +seditious libel are marked by such brutality as to make them notably +unique in the history of criminal administration in India. + +(4) The strangulation of all open political life by direct and indirect +repression led to the adoption of secret methods. + +(5) The sentences passed in the Delhi Conspiracy case were much more +severe than those given in Bengal in similar cases. In this case four +men were hanged, two of them only because of membership in the secret +conspiracy and not for actual participation in the outrage that was the +subject of the charge, and two others were sentenced to seven years +rigorous imprisonment each. + +(6) The Budge-Budge riot and the considerable loss of life that resulted +therefrom was another case of stupid management and utter incapacity to +handle a delicate situation. + +(7) For the Lahore Conspiracy 28 persons were hanged, and about 90 +sentenced to long terms of imprisonment and transportation for life. But +for the interference of Lord Hardinge the hangings would have exceeded +50. In addition some mutinous soldiers of two regiments were tried by +Court Martial and a few murderous robbers and train-wreckers were dealt +with by the ordinary courts. The reader may well compare this with the +record of convictions relating to Bengal. + +Now, we have not the slightest intention of justifying the conduct of +those who conspired to overthrow the Government by force, or who +committed murders, robberies or other offences in the furtherance of +that design. In our judgment only madmen, ignorant of the conditions of +their country, could have been guilty of such crimes. Nor are we +inclined to blame the Government much for the sharp steps they took to +preserve order and maintain their authority during the war. But, after +all has been said, we must reiterate that the underlying causes were +economic and were the direct result of Government policy. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] There never was a continuous steamer service between India and +Canada. + + + + +XIV + +RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REPRESSIVE LEGISLATION + + +The Committee has said all that it could against individual publicists, +Indian public movements and the native press. They have found no fault +with the Anglo-Indian press and the Government. The whole force of their +judicial acumen has been applied in recommending fresh measures of +repression and suppression which they have divided into two kinds: + + Punitive Measures, Permanent, (_a_) Points of General Application. + The measures which we shall submit are of two kinds, viz., + Punitive, by which term we mean measures better to secure the + conviction and punishment of offenders, and Preventive, i.e., + measures to check the spread of conspiracy and the commission of + crime. + + We may say at once that we do not expect very much from punitive + measures.[1] The conviction of offenders will never check such a + movement as that which grew up in Bengal unless all the leaders + can be convicted at the outset. Further, the real difficulties + have been the scarcity of evidence due to various causes and the + want of reliance whether justified or not, on such evidence as + there has been. The last difficulty is fundamental and cannot be + remedied. No law can direct a court to be convinced when it is + not. + + Punitive Measures (Permanent). + + Legislation directed better to secure the punishment of seditious + crime may take the shape either-- + + (_a_) of changes in the general law of evidence or procedure which + if sound would be advisable in regard to all crime, or + + (_b_) changes in the substantive law of sedition or modifications + in the rules of evidence and procedure in such cases designed to + deal with the special features of that class of offence. + +The recommendation under (_a_) does not amount to much and we will not +mention it. + +Under (_b_) they recommend: + + In the first place we think that a permanent enactment on the + lines of Rule 25A under the Defence of India Act is required. That + rule provides for the punishment of persons having prohibited + documents (which may have to be defined anew) in their possession + or control with (as we read the effect of the words used) intent + to publish or circulate them.... + + We also recommend that the principle of section 565 of the Code of + Criminal Procedure (which provides for an order requiring + notification of residence after release in the case of persons + convicted a second time for certain offences) should be extended + to all persons convicted of offences under Chapter VI of the Penal + Code (offences against the State) whether previously convicted or + not. Such persons might be ordered to give security for a period + not exceeding two years for good behaviour so far as offences + under Chapter VI are concerned, and in default be directed to + notify their residence to Government, who should have power to + restrict their movements for the period of two years after their + release and prohibit them from addressing public meetings,--the + term "public meetings" including in its scope political subjects + as in section 4 of the Prevention of Seditious Meetings Act of + 1907. + + Lastly, we think that in all cases where there is a question of + seditious intent, evidence of previous conviction for seditious + crime or association (of an incriminating kind, of course) with + persons so convicted should be admissible upon written notice to + the accused with such particulars and at such a time before the + evidence is given as might be fair. What we have called seditious + crime would of course have to be accurately defined. + +Now it is evident that after such legislation all liberty of speech and +action becomes extinct. These recommendations will we fear directly lead +to secret propaganda and secret action. + +Under the head of emergency punitive measures the committee recommends: + + Emergency Provisions for Trials. Coming now to the measures + themselves, we are of opinion that provision should be made for + the trial of seditious crime by Benches of three Judges without + juries or assessors and without preliminary commitment proceedings + or appeal. In short, the procedure we recommend should follow the + lines laid down in sections 5-9 inclusive of the Defence of India + Act. It should be made clear that section 512 of the Code of + Criminal Procedure (relating to the giving in evidence under + certain circumstances of depositions taken in the absence of an + absconding accused) applies to these trials, it having, we + understand, been questioned whether section 7 of the Defence of + India Act has that effect. + + We think it necessary to exclude juries and assessors mainly + because of the terrorism to which they are liable. But terrorism + apart, we do not think that they can be relied upon in this class + of cases. They are too much inclined to be affected by public + discussion. + +We omit the detailed discussion of these provisions in which the +committee has attempted to soften the sting of these recommendations by +giving their reasons and by suggesting certain safeguards against their +abuse. The most startling of their recommendations are however made +under the head of emergency preventive measures. + + Emergency Preventive Measures. We have been forced to the + conclusion that it is necessary, in order to keep the conspiracies + already described under control in the future, to provide for the + continuance after the expiry of the Defence of India Act (though + in the contingent form explained and under important limitations) + of some of the powers which that measure introduced in a temporary + form. By those means alone has the conspiracy been paralysed for + the present and we are unable to devise any expedient operating + according to strict judicial forms which can be relied upon to + prevent its reviving to check it if it does revive, or, in the + last resort, to suppress it anew. This will involve some + infringement of the rules normally safeguarding the liberty of the + subject. We have endeavored to make that infringement as small as + we think possible consistently with the production of an effective + scheme. + + Existing Temporary Powers. The powers at present temporarily + possessed by the Government are so far as material for the present + purpose to be found in rules 3-7 inclusive and 12A under the + Defence of India Act, 1915. We do not refer for the present to + the Foreigners Ordinance, 1914, or the Ingress into India + Ordinance, 1914.... Shortly stated, their effect is to give power + to require persons by executive order to remain in any area to be + specified or not to enter or remain in any such area, with + penalties for breach of such requirements. These orders may be + made and served on the person affected, whereupon they become + binding upon him, or the person may be arrested without warrant + and detained for a period not exceeding in all one month, pending + an order of restriction. There is also a power of search under + search warrant. It will be observed there is no provision for an + examination of the cases of such persons. The decision lies solely + with the Local Government. There is also the power of confinement + under Regulation III of 1818. + +Again: + + "Two Grades of Powers Desirable.--We now proceed to elaborate ... + the scheme we suggest. + + "We think, as we have already indicated, that the powers to be + acquired should be of two grades capable of being called into + operation separately, possibly under different forms of + notification. + + "The first group of powers should be of the following nature:-- + + "(i) to demand security with or without sureties; + + "(ii) to restrict residence or to require notification of change + of residence; + + "(iii) to require abstention from certain acts, such as engaging + in journalism, distributing leaflets or attending meetings; + + "(iv) to require that the person should periodically report to the + police. + +"The second group of powers should be-- + + "(i) to arrest; + + "(ii) to search under warrant; + + "(iii) to confine in non-penal custody. + +"In Article 196 they provide "that in respect of acts committed before +the Defence of India Act expires (or an earlier date if preferred) and +danger apprehended by reason of such acts in the future it should be +lawful to proceed against any person under any of the provisions which +we have outlined without any notification. In other words, the new law +is to be deemed to be operative for that purpose immediately." + +Articles 198 and 199 suggest measures for restricting "Ingress into +India" and also for regulating and restricting "Inter-Provincial +Movements." + +Need it be said that if these recommendations are accepted there will be +no liberty of press or speech in India and the Reform will fail to +suppress the revolutionary movement at all. Indian opinion is unanimous +in condemning these recommendations as has been proved by the unanimous +opposition of all sections of Indians in the Viceroy's Legislative +Council to the bills that have been introduced to give effect to them. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The Government of India have been on the inclined plane of +repression as a remedy of discontent, which sometimes leads to crime, +for now more than twenty years. They have in the interval placed on the +Statute Book the Penal and Criminal Procedure Codes, the Post Office +Amendment Acts, the Official Secrets Act, the Seditious Meetings Act, +the Incitement to Offences Act, the Criminal Law Amendment Act, the +Press Act, the Conspiracy Act, and the Defence of India Act. Have they +attained their object? The very introduction of the two new Bills ... is +the eloquent answer. What is it but a confession of failure?... +_Leader_, Allahabad. + + + + +XV + +THE REVOLUTIONARY PARTY + + Revolution is a fever brought about by the constant and reckless + disregard of the laws of health in the government of a country. + + DAVID LLOYD GEORGE + + "Causes and Aims of the War." Speech delivered + at Glasgow, on being presented with the freedom + of that city, June 29, 1917. + + +The authors of the report remark: + + "There exists a small revolutionary party deluded by hatred of + British rule and desire for the elimination of the Englishman into + the belief that the path to independence or constitutional liberty + lies through anarchical crime. Now it may be that such persons + will see for themselves the wisdom of abandoning methods which are + as futile as criminal; though if they do not, the powers of the + law are or can be made sufficient for the maintenance of order. + But the existence of such people is a warning against the possible + consequences of unrestrained agitation in India. We are justified + in calling on the political leaders, in the work of education that + they will undertake, to bear carefully in mind the political + inexperience of their hearers; and to look for further progress + not to fiery agitation which may have consequences quite beyond + their grasp, but to the machinery which we devise for the + purpose. In every country there will be persons who love agitation + for agitation's sake or to whom it appeals like an intoxicant. It + is the duty of the leaders of Indian opinion to remember the + effect on people not accustomed to weighing words of fiery and + heated speeches. Where ignorance is widespread and passions are so + easily aroused, nothing is easier than for political leaders to + excite a storm; nothing harder for them than to allay it. Breaches + of the peace or crimes of violence only put back the political + clock. Above all things, when the future of India depends upon + co-operation among all races, attacks upon one race or religion or + upon another jeopardise the whole experiment. Nor can the + condemnation of extremist and revolutionary action be left only to + the official classes. We call upon all those who claim to be + leaders to condemn with us and to support us in dealing with + methods of agitation which drive schoolboys to crime and lead to + religious and agrarian disturbance. Now that His Majesty's + Government have declared their policy, reasonable men have + something which they can oppose successfully to the excitement + created by attacks on Government and by abuse of Englishmen, + coupled with glowing and inaccurate accounts of India's golden + past and appeals to race hatred in the name of religion. Many + prominent Indians dislike and fear such methods. A new opportunity + is now being offered to combat them; and we expect them to take + it. Disorder must be prejudicial to the cause of progress and + especially disorder as a political weapon." + +We are in general agreement with the sentiments expressed in this +extract but we will be wanting in candour if we fail to point out that, +though the revolutionary movement in India is mainly political, it is +partly economic and partly anarchic also. In the first two aspects it is +at present the product of purely local (Indian) conditions. In the +last, it is the reaction of world forces. While we are hoping that the +change in the policy, now announced, will remove the political basis of +it, we are not quite sure that that will ensure the extermination of the +party or the total destruction of the movement. The growth of democratic +political institutions in India must inevitably be followed by a +movement for social democracy. The spirit of Revolution which is now fed +by political inequalities will, when these are removed, find its +sustenance in social inequalities. That movement may not be +anti-British; perhaps it will not be, but that it will have some +revolutionary element in it may be assumed. The lessons of history make +it clear that the most effective way to prevent its falling into +channels of violence is to have as little recourse to coercion as may be +consistent with the preservation of general order and peace. The +preservation of order and the unhindered exercise of private rights by +all citizens is the pre-requisite condition to good government. Every +government must see to it. It is their duty to use preventive as well as +punitive methods. There are, however, ways of doing these things. One is +the British, the American and the French way.[1] The other is what was +heretofore associated with the name of the late Czar. The third is the +German way. We hope the lessons of Czarism will not be lost on either +party. The governments have as much to learn from it as the peoples. The +best guarantee against the abnormal growth of a revolutionary movement +is to adopt and follow the British methods and to avoid scrupulously +and without fail any approach to the discredited Russian or Prussian +methods. + +The Indian soil and the Indian atmosphere are not very congenial for +revolutionary ideas and revolutionary methods. The people are too +docile, gentle, law-abiding and spiritually inclined to take to them +readily. They are by nature and tradition neither vindictive nor +revengeful. Their general spirit is opposed to all kinds of violence. +They have little faith in the virtues of force. Unless they are +provoked, and that too terribly, and are face to face with serious +danger they do not like the use of force, even when recourse to it may +be legal and morally defensible. + +One of the causes of the growth of the revolutionary movement in India +has been the insolence and the incivility of the European Community +towards the Indian Community. The charges of cowardice so often hurled +against the Bengali have played no insignificant part in the genesis of +the Bengal revolutionary. The distinguished authors have put it rather +mildly: + + "If there are Indians who really desire to see India leave the + empire, to get rid of English officers and English commerce, we + believe that among their springs of action will be found the + bitterness of feeling that has been nurtured out of some + manifestation that the Englishman does not think the Indian an + equal. Very small seeds casually thrown may result in great + harvests of political calamity. We feel that, particularly at the + present stage of India's progress, it is the plain duty of every + Englishman and woman, official and non-official, in India to avoid + the offence and the blunder of discourtesy: and none the less is + it incumbent on the educated Indian to cultivate patience and a + more generous view of what may very likely be no more than + heedlessness or difference of custom." + +We admire the dignified way in which they have addressed their advice to +the educated Indian. But we hope they do not ignore that except in a few +scattered instances heretofore the chief fault has lain with the ruling +class. The proceedings of the Royal Commission on the Public Services of +India are full of that racial swagger which the authors of this report +have mildly condemned in the above extract and it is an open secret that +that spirit was one of the dearly cherished articles of faith with the +bureaucracy. We hope the war has effected a great change in their temper +and both parties will be disposed to profit from the advice given to +them in the report. + +As to the duty of the educated leaders in the matter of suppressing the +growth of the revolutionary movement in future, we beg to point out that +all depends on how much faith the governing classes place in the +professions of the popular leaders. Open public speeches and meetings +appealing to racial or religious animosities have not played any +important part in the development of the revolutionary spirit. It is not +likely that the educated leaders will in any way consciously and +voluntarily digress from the limits of reasonable criticism of +Government policy, nor have they very often done so in the past. What +has so far prevented the educated leaders from exercising an effective +check on the growth of the revolutionary movement is their inability to +associate on terms of friendship with the younger generation. This has +been due partly to a false idea of dignity and partly to the fear that +any association with hot-headed young men might bring discredit on them +or might land them in hot water if, sometime or other, any one of their +friends might do anything violent. Public speeches denouncing the +revolutionary propaganda and the revolutionary activities or public +condemnation of the latter in the press are good in their own way, but +they are not quite effective. The revolutionist may ascribe it to fear, +timidity, or hypocrisy. What is needed is that educated leaders of +influence should be free to mix, socially and otherwise, with the +younger generation so as to acquire an intimate knowledge of their trend +of thought and bent of mind. It is in these intimate exchanges of views +that they can most effectively exercise their powers of argument and +persuasion and use their influence effectively. They will not succeed +always, but in a good many cases they will. This cannot be done, +however, unless the Executives and the Police relax their attentions +toward them. + +The bureaucrats' want of confidence in any Indian leader reached its +limit in the attentions which the agents of the secret service bestowed +on such men as the late Mr. Gokhale. It is an open secret that the +secret service records have assigned a particular number to every public +leader in India. Religious preachers and teachers of the type of Lala +Hansraj and Lala Mûnshi Rám receive as much attention in the records as +the writer of this book or Mr. B. G. Tilak or Mr. Bepin Chandra Pal. The +"Servants of India" are as much the objects of solicitation on the part +of the secret service men as the members of the Arya Samaj. Of course, +agitators are agitators. All the great progressive souls of the world +have had to agitate at one time or another in their lives. Agitation is +the soul of democracy. There can be no progress in a democracy without +agitation. Sir Denzil Ibbetson could pay no greater compliment to the +Arya Samaj than by his remark in 1907 that, according to his +information, wherever there was an Arya Samaj it was a centre of unrest. +We hope the Governments are now convinced that the Arya Samaj has never +been revolutionary. It is one of the most conservative, restraining +forces in the social life of the country. Yet it cannot be denied that +its propaganda has been and will continue to be one of the most +disturbing factors in the placid waters of Indian life. The bureaucracy +could not look upon it with kindness. Any attempt to persist in this +kind of control or check or persecution will be fatal to the success of +the appeal which Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford have addressed to the +public men of India in the extract given above. + +In our judgment the most effective way to check the growth of the +revolutionary movement is by freeing the mind of the leaders of the fear +of being misunderstood if they should mix freely with the younger +generation and yet fail to prevent some of them from becoming +revolutionists. A revolutionary prospers on exclusiveness. Secrecy is +his great ally. Cut off a young man from open, healthy influences and he +will be attracted by the mystery of secrecy. Thenceforth he is doomed. +After that he may be weaned only by kindness and friendliness and not by +threats or persecution. Most of the youths attracted by revolutionary +propaganda have proved to be quite ignorant of the real conditions of +their country. No attempt has been made to instruct them in politics. +They have been fed on unsound history and unsound politics. Reactionary +Imperialism has harmed them more than exaggerated nationalism. They have +had few opportunities of discussion with people who could look upon +things in right perspective. They could not open their minds to their +European teachers. In the few cases in which they did they repented. +Somehow or other, the free confidential talks they had with their +professors found an entry in the police records. It brought a black mark +against their names, to stand and mar their careers forever. The Indian +teacher and professor is afraid of discussing politics with them. So +they go on unrestrained until the glamour of prospective heroism, by a +deed of violence, fascinates one of them and he is led into paths of +crimes of a most detestable kind. Unscrupulous advisors lead him toward +falsehood, hypocrisy, treachery, treason and crime by dubious methods. +One of the things they preach is that morality has nothing to do with +politics. They insinuate that the violence of militarism and Imperialism +can be effectively met and checked only by violence. Poor misguided +souls! They enforce their advice by the diplomatic history of Europe. +They forget that once a youth is led into the ways of falsehood and +unscrupulousness he may as easily use it against his friends as against +his enemies. If he has no scruples about killing an enemy he may have +none about killing a friend. If he has no scruples about betraying the +one, he may have none about betraying the other. Once a man starts +toward moral degeneration, even for desirable or patriotic ends, there +is no knowing whither his course might take him. The most idealistic +young men starting with the highest and purest conceptions of patriotism +have been known to fall into the most ignoble methods of attacking first +their enemies and then their friends. When they reach that stage of +moral corruption they can trust no one, can believe in the honesty of no +one. Their one idea of cleverness and efficiency is to conceal their +motives from everyone, to give their confidence to no one, to suspect +and distrust everyone and to aspire toward the success that consists in +imposing upon all. + +The remedy against this lies in encouraging an open and frank discussion +of politics on the part of the younger generation, with such indulgences +as are due to their youth and immaturity of judgment; a systematic +teaching of political history in schools and colleges; a free and open +intercourse with their teachers on the clearest understanding that +nothing said in discussion or in confidence will ever be used either +privately or publicly against them, and an equally free and intimate +intercourse with the leaders of thought and of public life in the +country. These latter must be freed from the attentions of the secret +service if it is intended that they should effectually coöperate in +counteracting revolutionary propaganda. Besides, the younger generation +must be brought up in habits of manly and open encounter with their +adversaries, in a spirit of sport and fair play. Repression, +suppression, and suspicion do not provide a congenial climate for the +development of these habits and they should be subordinated as much as +possible in the present condition of chaotic conflict between social +interests and social ideals. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] By this we do not mean those that were adopted during the war. + + + + +XVI + +EDUCATION + + +In the previous chapters we have embodied and discussed the important +parts of the Report of Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford. In this chapter +we give a summary of what they say about education. The statements of +fact made by the two distinguished statesmen are so lucid and fair that +we make no apology for copying the whole article embodying the same. + + "There is, however, one aspect of the general problem of political + advance which is so important as to require notice in some detail. + We have observed already that one of the greatest obstacles to + India's political development lies not only in the lack of + education among its peoples taken as a whole, but also in the + uneven distribution of educational advance. The educational policy + of Government has incurred much criticism from different points of + view. Government is charged with neglect, because after sixty + years of educational effort only 6 per cent. of the population is + literate, while under 4 per cent. of the total population is + undergoing instruction. It is charged, on the other hand, with + having given to those classes which welcomed instruction a system + which is divorced from their needs in being purely literary, in + admitting methods of unintelligent memorising and of cramming, and + in producing, far in excess of the actual demands of Indian + conditions, a body of educated young men whose training has + prepared them only for Government service or the practice of law. + The system of university education on Western lines is + represented as cutting off the students from the normal life of + the country, and the want of connection between primary education + in the vernaculars and higher education in English is regarded as + another radical defect." + +The period of sixty years mentioned is evidently counted from 1858, the +year in which the rule of the East India Company ceased and the Crown +assumed direct responsibility for the Government of India. British rule +in India however began in 1757 A.D. and the foundation of public +education in India under the British might well be considered to have +been laid by Warren Hastings in 1781, in which year the Calcutta +Madrassa was established. For a period of almost 50 years the discussion +whether the Indians should be instructed in English or not went on until +it was settled in 1835 by Lord Macaulay's famous minute in favour of +English and the European system. In 1824 there were 14 public +institutions in Bengal imparting education on Western lines. + +In the same year, i.e., in 1824, Monstuart Elphinstone formulated a +similar policy for the Bombay presidency. + +To the remarks made in the above quotation about the extent and kind of +education imparted in India till now, the distinguished authors of the +report add: + + "From the economic point of view India had been handicapped by the + want of professional and technical instruction: her colleges turn + out numbers of young men qualified for Government clerkships while + the real interests of the country require, for example, doctors + and engineers in excess of the existing supply. The charge that + Government has produced a large _intelligentsia_ which cannot find + employment has much substance in it: it is one of the facts that + lie at the root of recent political difficulties. But it is only + of late years and as part of the remarkable awakening of national + self-consciousness, that the complaint has been heard that the + system has failed to train Indians for practical work in + manufactures, commerce, and the application of science to + industrial life." + +After making a few general observations on the so called difficulties in +the way of a general spread of education "the chief needs at present" +are thus pointed out: + + "Primary education, as we have seen, is already practically in the + hands of local bodies, but secondary education was deliberately + left at the outset almost entirely to private agencies. The + universities, despite their connection with Government, are + largely non-official bodies with extensive powers.[1] The main + defect of the system is probably the want of co-ordination between + primary and higher education, which in turn reacts upon the + efficiency of the secondary institutions and to a great extent + confines university colleges to the unsatisfactory function of + mere finishing schools. The universities have suffered from having + been allowed to drift into the position of institutions that are + expected not so much to educate in the true sense as to provide + the student with the means of entering an official or a + professional career. Thus a high percentage of failures seems to a + large body of Indian opinion not so much a proof of the faultiness + of the methods of teaching as an example of an almost capricious + refusal of the means of obtaining a living wage to boys who have + worked for years often at the cost of real hardship to secure an + independent livelihood. The educational wastage is everywhere + excessive; and analysis shows that it is largely due to + under-payment and want of proper training in the case of teachers. + The actual recruits for normal schools are too often ill-prepared, + and the teaching career, which in India used formerly to command + respect, does not now offer adequate inducements to men of ability + and force of character. The first need, therefore, is the + improvement of teaching. Until that is attained it is vain to + expect that the continuation of studies from the primary stage can + be made attractive. But while the improvement of primary and + middle schools is the first step to be taken, very much remains to + be done in reorganising the secondary teachers and ensuring for + the schoolmaster a career that will satisfy an intelligent man. + The improvement of ordinary secondary education is obviously a + necessary condition for the development of technical instruction + and the reform of the university system. It is clear that there is + much scope for an efficient and highly trained inspectorate in + stimulating the work of the secondary schools and in helping the + inspectorate of the primary schools maintained by the local + bodies. We believe that the best minds in India, while they feel + that the educational service has not in the past been widely + enough opened to Indians trained at British universities, value + the maintenance of a close connection with educationists from the + United Kingdom. + + "This survey of educational problems will show how much room there + is for advance and improvement, and also how real the difficulties + are. The defects of the present system have often been discussed + in the legislative councils, but, as was inevitable so long as the + councils had no responsibility, without due appreciation of + financial difficulties, or serious consideration of the question + how far fresh taxation for educational improvement would be + acceptable. As we shall show, it is part of the political advance + that we contemplate that the direction of Indian education should + be increasingly transferred to Indian hands. Only so, we believe, + can the stimulus be forthcoming which will enable the necessary + money to be found. The weak points are recognised. A real desire + for improvement exists. Educational extension and reform must + inevitably play an important part in the political progress of the + country. We have already made clear our conviction that political + capacity can come only through the exercise of political + responsibility; and that mere education without opportunities must + result in serious mischief. But there is another important + element. Progress must depend on the growth of electorates and the + intelligent exercise of their powers; and men will be immensely + helped to become competent electors by acquiring such education as + will enable them to judge candidates for their votes, and of the + business done in the councils. No one would propose to prescribe + an educational qualification for the vote; but no one can deny the + practical difficulties which make a very general extension of the + franchise impossible, until literacy is far more widely spread + than is the case at present. Progress was temporarily interrupted + by uncertainty as to the distribution of financial resources which + would result from the constitutional changes; but the imminence of + these has given a new importance to the question and its + consideration has been resumed. We trust that impetus will thus be + given to a widespread movement which will be taken up and carried + forward boldly by the reformed councils." + +The subject has been so fairly dealt with, the defects of the present +system so frankly recognised and the need of wider dissemination of +education so forcibly explained that we need add nothing. + +In our judgment the circumstances and conditions under which it is +proposed to transfer the direction of Indian education to Indian hands +are extremely unfair. It is admitted that under the present economic +conditions of the Indian people, there is little scope for further +taxation. If so, there are only two ways to find money for education, +(_a_) by economy in the other departments of public administration, +(_b_) by loans. + +The recommendation made by the Secretary of State and the Viceroy for an +increase in the emoluments of the European services hardly leaves any +room for (_a_). We have discussed the matter at some length in another +chapter. The only other source left, then, is by incurring debt. +Education is so important and so fundamental to the future progress of +the country that in our judgment the ministers should feel no hesitation +in having recourse to it, but the problem is so gigantic that, lacking +material reduction in the cost of administration in other departments, +it will be extremely difficult to meet the situation without an +unreasonable increase in the public debt. Anyway, under the scheme +recommended, the Government cannot divest itself of the fullest +responsibility in the matter. The scheme gives no vital power to the +electorates or their representatives. The authority of the Executive in +the matter of appropriations remains unaffected and so long as it +retains the final say in the making of the Budget, the Indian ministers +cannot, handicapped by so many restrictions, be held responsible if the +progress is slow. + +Our views on the problem of education in India have been expressed in a +separate book to which interested readers are referred.[2] We hold that +it is the duty of the Government to provide free and wholesome education +to every child at public cost, that education should be compulsory up to +the age of 18. The policy of the English Education Act of 1918 ought to +be applied to India, and if it cannot be done from current funds, loans +should be raised for the purpose. It is a matter which brooks of no +delay. The whole future of India depends upon it. Nay, the future of +humanity as a whole is affected by it. The world cannot be safe for any +kind of democracy, nor can the world make progress towards a better +order without the active coöperation of three hundred and fifteen +million Indians forming one-fifth of the human race. Not only is the +world poorer by reason of India's inability to coöperate in the work of +progress but its present educational backwardness is a serious handicap +to the rest of humanity going forward. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] We do not accept this statement. The Government controls the policy +of the universities to such an extent as virtually to make them official +institutions. + +[2] National Education in India. + + + + +XVII + +THE PROBLEM + + +We have so far discussed the Report and such remarks as we have made +have been by way of comment. In this chapter we propose to give in brief +outline our own view of the problem. + +Let us first be clear about the exact nature of the Indian problem. +Political institutions are, after all, only a reflection of the national +mind and of national conditions. What is the end? The end is freedom to +live and to live according to our own conception of what life should be, +to pursue our own ideals, to develop our own civilization and to secure +that unity of purpose which would distinguish us from the other nations +of the world, insuring for us a position of independence and honor, of +security from within and non-interference from without. We have no +ambition to conquer and rule other peoples; we have no desire to exploit +foreign markets; not even to impose our "kultur" and our "civilization" +on others. At present we are counted among the backward peoples of the +earth mainly because we are a subject people, governed by a foreign +power, protected by foreign bayonets and schooled by foreign teachers. +The condition of our masses is intellectually deplorable and +economically miserable; our women are still in bondage and do not enjoy +that freedom which their Western sisters have won; our domestic +masters, the prince and priest, are still in saddle; caste and privilege +still hold some sway, yet it is not true that, taken all in all, we are +really a backward people. Even in these matters we find that the +difference between us and the "advanced" nations of the world is one of +degree only. Caste and privilege rule in the United States as much as in +India. There is nothing in our history which can be put on the same +level as the lynching of Mr. Little, the deportation of Bisbee miners, +the lynching of the Negroes, and other incidents of a similar nature +indicative of race hatred and deep rooted colour prejudice. No nation in +the world can claim an _ideal state of society_, in which everything is +of the best. On the other hand, there are certain matters in which +comparison is to our advantage. Even with the advance of drunkenness +under British rule we are yet a sober nation; our _standards_ of +personal and domestic hygiene are much higher than those of the Western +people; our standards of life much simpler and nobler; our social ideals +more humane; and our spiritual aspirations infinitely superior. As a +nation we do not believe in war or militarism or evangelism. We do not +force our views on others; we have greater toleration for other people's +opinions and beliefs than has any other nation in the world; we have not +yet acquired that craze for possessions and for sheer luxurious and +riotous life which marks the modern Pharisee of the West. Our people, +according to their conceptions, means and opportunities are kindly, +hospitable, gentle, law-abiding, mutually helpful, full of respect for +others, and peace loving. It is, in fact, the abnormal extent in which +these qualities exist that has contributed to our political and +economic exploitation by others. In India capitalism and landlordism +have not yet developed as fully as they have among the civilized nations +of the West. The West is in revolt against capitalism and landlordism. +We do not claim that before the advent of the British there was no +capitalism or landlordism in India. But we do contend that, though there +was a certain amount of rivalry and competition between the different +castes, within the castes there was much more coöperation and +fellow-feeling than there has ever been in the West. Our native +governments and their underlings, the landlords, did exact a high price +from the village communities for the privilege of cultivating their +lands but within the village there was no _inter se_ competition either +between the tillers of the soil or between the pursuers of crafts. The +gulf between the rich and the poor was not so marked as it is to-day in +the West. + +Under the British rule and since its introduction, however, things have +changed considerably. Without adopting the best features of modern life, +we have been forced by circumstances, political and economic, to give up +the best of our own. Village communities have been destroyed; joint and +corporate bargaining has given place to individual transactions; every +bit of land has been separately measured, marked and taxed; common lands +have been divided; the price of land and rent has risen abnormally. The +money-lender who, before the advent of British rule, held an extremely +subordinate position in the village community, has suddenly come to +occupy the first place. He owns the best lands and the best houses and +holds the bodies and souls of the agriculturalists in mortgage. The +villages which were generally homogeneous in population, bound to each +other by ties of race, blood and religion, have become heterogeneous, +with nondescript people of all races and all religions who have acquired +land by purchase. Competition has taken the place of coöperation. A +country where social coöperation and social solidarity reigned at least +within castes, within villages and within urban areas has been entirely +disrupted and disintegrated by unlimited and uncontrolled competition. +India never knew any poor laws; she never needed any; nor orphan +asylums, nor old age pensions and widow homes. She had no use for +organized charity. Rarely did any man die for want of food or clothing, +except in famines. Hospitality was open and was dispensed under a sense +of duty and obligation and not by way of charity or kindness. The +survival of the fittest had no hold on our minds. We had no factories or +workshops. People worked in their _own_ homes or shops either with their +own money or with money borrowed from the money-lender. The artisans +were the masters of the goods they produced and, unless otherwise agreed +with the money-lender, sold them in the open market. The necessities of +life, being cheap and easily procurable the artisans cared more for +quality than quantity. Their work was a source of pleasure and pride as +well as of profit to them. Now everything has gone, pleasure, pride, as +well as profit. Where profit has remained, pleasure and pride are gone. +We are on the high road to a "distinctly industrial civilization." In +fact, the principal complaint of our political reformers and free trade +economists is that the British Government has not let us proceed on +that road at a sufficiently rapid pace and that, in preventing us, they +have been dominated by their own national interests more than by our own +good. We saw that other nations were progressing by following the laws +of industrial development, and quite naturally we also wanted to prosper +by the same method. This war has opened our eyes as it has opened those +of the rest of the world and we have begun to feel that the goal that we +sought leads to perdition and not salvation. This makes it necessary for +the Indian politicians and economists to review their ideas of political +progress. What are we aiming at? Do we want to rise, in order to fall? +Do we want to copy and emulate Europe even in its mistakes and blunders? +Does the road to heaven lie through hell? Must we make a wreck of our +ship and then try salvage? The civilization of Europe, as we have known +it, is dying. It may take decades or perhaps a century or more to die. +But _die it must_. This War has prepared a death bed for it from which +it will never rise. Upon its ruins is rising, or will rise, another +civilization which will reproduce much of what was valuable and precious +in our own with much of what we never had. The question that we want to +put to our compatriots is, shall we prepare ourselves for the coming +era, or shall we bury ourselves in the débris of the expiring one. We +have no right to answer it for others, but our answer is clear and +unequivocal. We will not be a party to any scheme which shall add to the +powers of the capitalist and the landlord and will introduce and +accentuate the evils of the expiring industrial civilization into our +beloved country. + +We are not unaware that, according to the judgment of some thinkers, +amongst them Karl Marx, a country must pass through the capitalistic +mill, before the proletariat comes to its own. We do not believe in the +truth of this theory, but even if it be true we will not consciously +help in proving it to be true. The existing social order of Europe is +vicious and immoral. It is worm eaten. It has the germs of plague, +disease, death and destitution in it. It is in a state of decomposition. +It is based on injustice, tyranny, oppression and class rule. Certain +phases of it are inherent in our own system. Certain others we are +borrowing from our masters in order to make a complete mess. Wisdom and +foresight require that we be forewarned. What we want and what we need +is not the power to implant in full force and in full vigour the +_expiring_ European system, but power to keep out its development on +vicious lines, with opportunities of gradually and slowly undoing the +evil that has already been done. + +The Government of India as at present constituted is a Government of +capitalists and landlords, of both England and India. Under the proposed +scheme the power of the former will be reduced and that of the latter +increased. The Indo-British Association does not like it, not because it +loves the masses of India for which it hypocritically and insincerely +professes solicitude, but because in their judgment it reduces the +profits of the British governing classes. We doubt if the scheme really +does affect even that. But if it does, it is good so far. + +The ugly feature of the scheme is not its potentiality in transferring +the power into the hands of the Brahmins (the power of the Brahmin as +such, is gone for good), but in the possibility of its giving too much +power to the "profiteering" class, be they the landlords of Bengal and +Oudh, or the millionaires of Bombay. The scheme protects the European +merchants; it confers special privileges on the small European +Community; it provides special representation for the landlords, the +Chambers of Commerce, the Mohammedans and the Sikhs. What is left for +the general tax-paying public is precious little. The authors of the +scheme say that to withhold complete and immediate Home Rule is in the +interest of the general masses, the poor inarticulate ryot and the +workingman. We wish we could believe in it. We wish it were true. +Perhaps they mean it, but our past experience does not justify our +accepting it at its face value. + +There is, however, one thing we can do. We can ask them for proofs by +insisting on and agitating for the immediate legislative relief of the +ryot and the middle classes. We should adopt the aims of the British +Labour Party as our own, start educating our people on those lines and +formulate measures which will secure for them _real freedom_ and not the +counterfeit coin which passes for it. It will require years of education +and agitation but it has to be done, no matter whether we are ruled by +the British or by our own property holders. We are not opposed to Home +Rule. Nay, we press for it. In our judgment the objections urged against +giving it at once are flimsy and intangible. The chief obstacles are +such as have been created or perpetuated by the British themselves. The +caste does not prevent us from having _at least_ as much home rule as is +enjoyed by the people of Italy, Hungary, the Balkan States and some of +the South American Republics. But if we cannot have it at once and if +the British must retain the power of final decision in their hands, we +must insist upon something being immediately done not only to educate +the ryot but to give him economic relief. So long as the British +continue to refuse to do that we must hold them responsible for all the +misery that Indian humanity is suffering from. + +We want political power in order to raise the intellectual and political +status of our masses. We do not want to bolster up classes. Our goal is +real liberty, equality and opportunity for all. We want to avoid, if +possible, the evils of the class struggle. We will pass through the mill +if we must, but we should like to try to avoid it. For that reason we +want freedom to legislate and freedom to determine our fiscal +arrangements. That is our main purpose in our demand for Home Rule. + + + + +XVIII + +THE INTERNATIONAL ASPECT + + +Thus far we have discussed the Indian question from the internal or +national point of view. But it has an international aspect also. It is +said, and we hope that it is true, that the world is entering into an +era of new internationalism and that the old exclusive chauvinistic +nationalism is in its last gasps. This war was the greatest social +mix-up known to history. It has brought about the downfall of many +monarchs and the destruction of four empires. The armies of the +belligerents on both sides contained the greatest assortment of races +and nations, of religions and languages that were ever brought together +for mutual destruction. Primarily a fight between the European +Christians, it drew into its arena Hindus, Mohammedans, Buddhists, +Shintos, Jews and Negroes of Africa and America. + +The war has produced a revolution in Russia, the like of which has never +been known. It is now said openly that the Russian Revolution had as +much influence on the final _debacle_ of the Central Powers as the +strength of the Allies and the resources of America. The revolution has +spread to Germany and Austria and threatens to engulf the whole of +Europe. It has given birth to a new order of society, aglow with the +spirit of a new and elevated kind of internationalism. This +internationalism must have for its foundation justice and +self-determination for all peoples, regardless of race or religion, +creed or color. In the new understanding between nations coöperation +must be substituted for competition and mutual trust and helpfulness for +distrust and exploitation of the weaker by the stronger. The only +alternatives are reaction, with the certainty of even greater war in the +near future, and Bolshevism. + +Now, nobody knows what Bolshevism represents. The Socialists themselves +are divided over it. The advanced wing is enthusiastic, the moderates +are denouncing it. The Liberals and Radicals are freely recognizing that +it has brought into the affairs of men a new spirit which is going to +stay and substantially influence the future of the world. The +stand-patters denounce it in the strongest possible terms. They +calumniate it to their heart's content and move heaven and earth to +exterminate it. But we feel that only radical changes in the existing +order will stem its tide. The Socialists and Radicals want to make the +most of it, while the Imperialist Liberals and Conservatives want to +give as little as is compatible with the safety of the existing order in +which they are supreme. The struggle will take some time, but that it +will end in favor of the new spirit no one doubts. + +The only way to meet Bolshevism is to concede rights to the different +peoples of the earth now being bled and exploited. Otherwise the +discontented and exploited countries of the world will be the best +breeding centres for it. India must come into her own soon, else not +even the Himalayas can effectually bar the entry of Bolshevism into +India. A contented, self-governing India may be proof against it; a +discontented, dissatisfied, oppressed India perhaps the most fertile +field. We hope the British statesmen are alive to the situation. + +But that is not the only way to look at the international importance of +India. By its geographical situation it is the connecting link between +the Near East and the Far East and the clearing house for the trade of +the world. Racially, it holds the balance between the European Aryan and +the yellow races. In any military conflict between the white and the +yellow races, the people of India will be a decisive factor. In a +conflict of peace they will be a harmonising element. Racially they are +the kin of the European. By religion and culture they are nearer the +Chinese and Japanese. + +With 70 million Moslems India is the most important centre of Mohammedan +sentiment. With Christians as their present rulers, the Hindus and +Mohammedans of India are coming to realise that their best interests +require a closing up of their ranks. There is no doubt that, come what +may, their relations in future will be much more cordial, friendly and +mutually sympathetic than they have been in the past. The Hindus will +stand by their Mohammedan countrymen in all their efforts to revive the +glory of Islam, and to regain political independence for it. There is no +fear of a Pan-Islamic movement if the new spirit of internationalism +prevails. If, however, it does not, the Pan-Islamic movement might find +a sympathetic soul in India. Islam is not dead. It cannot and will not +die. The only way to make it a force for harmony and peace is to +recognise its potentialities and to respect its susceptibilities. The +political independence of Islamic countries is the basic foundation for +such a state. We hope that the statesmen of the world will give their +most earnest thought to the question and sincerely put into practice the +principles they have been enunciating during the war. The case of India +will be an acid test. + +A happy India will make a valuable contribution to the evolution of a +better and more improved humanity. An unhappy India will clog the wheels +of progress. It will not be easy for the masters of India to rule it on +old lines. If not reconciled it might prove the pivot of the next war. A +happy India will be one of the brightest spots in the British +Commonwealth. A discontented India will be a cause of standing shame and +a source of never ending trouble. + +With a republican China in the northeast, a constitutional Persia in the +northwest and a Bolshevist Russia in the not remote north, it will be +extremely foolish to attempt to rule India despotically. Not even the +gods can do it. It is not possible even if the legislature devotes all +its sittings to the drafting and passing of one hundred coercion acts. +The peace of the world, international harmony and good-will, the good +name of the British Commonwealth, the safety of the Empire as such, +demand the peaceful introduction and development of democracy in India. + + + + +APPENDIX A + +A SYNOPSIS OF THE INDIAN INDUSTRIAL COMMISSIONERS' REPORT + + +A bureaucracy has the fatal tendency of perpetuating itself and of +making itself indispensable. As a result, we find that the prospects and +powers of the bureaucracy become more important than even the purposes +for which it exists. It is a commonplace of politics that a state exists +for the people comprising it, and that the servants of the state are the +servants of the people. They are the tools which the body politic uses +for its corporate life. Even in self-governed countries the tendency of +glorifying the state and the servants of the state at the cost of the +people is not uncommon, though the fact is not, or rarely, if at all, +admitted in so many words. In dependencies and countries governed by a +foreign bureaucracy, however, this fact is undisguisedly kept before the +people and they are openly and frankly told that the powers and +prospects of the servants of the government are of greater consequence +and importance than the wishes and welfare of the people. This is amply +illustrated by the extravagant scale on which the government of India +pays its European servants and goes on adding to their privileges under +all sorts of pretences and excuses. People may live or they may die for +want of food, for lack of knowledge of the ordinary laws of hygiene, for +lack of employment, but the bureaucrats must enjoy their princely +salaries, their hill allowances, their furlough, and travelling and +leave perquisites, promotions and pensions. If the cost of living +increases, they must get a raise in their salaries, no matter how the +increased cost of living affects the general body of the people. +Besides, they must have their pensions, as their children are infinitely +more important than those of the tax-payer. + +We have already reproduced and discussed the recommendations of the +Secretary of State for India and the Viceroy, about the European members +of the Indian services. The Viceroy has only recently emphasized the +importance of a substantial increase in their salaries, although there +is a deficit of 20 million dollars in the budget estimates for the next +year. That is an old story, however. What we are immediately concerned +with are the recommendations of the Indian Industrial Commission, in +favor of creating a new branch of public service divided into the +inevitable Imperial and Provincial branches, for furthering the +industrial development of the country. Our meaning will be clear as we +proceed. + +The Indian Industrial Commission was appointed by the Government of +India "to examine and report upon the possibilities of further +industrial development in India and to submit its recommendations with +special references to the following questions:-- + + (_a_) whether new openings for the profitable employment of Indian + capital in commerce can be indicated. + + (_b_) whether, and if so, in what manner, government can usefully + give direct encouragement to industrial development, + + 1. by rendering technical advice more freely available; + + 2. by the demonstration of the possibility, on a commercial scale, + of particular industries; + + 3. by affording, directly, or indirectly, financial assistance to + industrial enterprise; or + + 4. by any other means which are not incompatible with the existing + fiscal policy of the government of India." + +The tariff question was excluded from the scope of the Commission's +inquiries, though it was expressed that the "building up of industries +where the capital, control and management should be in the hands of the +Indians" was the "special object" which the government had in view. The +Government spokesman in the meeting of the Legislative Council at which +the appointment of the Commission was announced further emphasized "that +it was of immense importance, alike to India herself and to the Empire +as a whole, that Indians should take a larger share in the industrial +development of their country." He "deprecated the taking of any steps, +if it might merely mean that the manufacturer who now competes with you +from a distance would transfer his activities to India and compete with +you within your boundaries." + +The Commission has now submitted its report which has been published as +a Parliamentary blue book in a bulky volume of about 500 pages including +a separate lengthy note by one of the leading Indian members of the +Commission. The note is, in our judgment, very valuable, as it gives the +Indian point of view of the industrial problem in such a lucid and +exhaustive way as to leave no room for doubt as to what articulate India +thinks in the matter. The note does not express only the personal +opinion of the author but the considered views of the Indian Nationalist +Party. + +Both the report and the note have been the source of much personal +gratification to us as they corroborate and confirm to an extraordinary +extent what the author said in his book "England's Debt to India," +though the report is by no means free from fallacies and one-sided +statements of fact and opinions. + + +II + +In the words of the summary prefixed to the report: + +"The first chapters of the report deal with India as an industrial +country, her present position, and her potentialities. They show how +little the march of modern industry has affected the great bulk of the +Indian population, which remains engrossed in agriculture, winning a +bare subsistence from the soil by antiquated methods of cultivation. +Such changes as have been wrought in rural areas are the effects of +economic rather than of industrial evolution. In certain centers the +progress of Western industrial methods is discernible; and a number of +these are described in order to present a picture of the conditions +under which industries are carried on, attention being drawn to the +shortage and to the general inefficiency of Indian labor and to the lack +of an indigenous supervising agency. Proposals are made for the better +exploitation of the forests and fisheries. In discussing the industrial +deficiencies of India, the report shows how unequal the industrial +development of our industries has been. Money has been invested in +commerce rather than industries, and only those industries have been +taken up which appeared to offer safe and easy profits. Previous to the +war, too ready reliance was placed on imports from overseas, and this +habit was fostered by the Government practice of purchasing stores in +England. India produces nearly all the raw materials necessary for the +requirements of a modern community; but is unable to manufacture many of +the articles and materials necessary alike in times of peace and war. +For instance, her great textile industries are dependent upon supplies +of imported machinery and would have to shut down if command of the seas +were lost. It is vital, therefore, for the Government to ensure the +establishment of those industries in India whose absence exposes us to +grave danger in event of war. The report advocates the introduction of +modern methods of agriculture and in particular of labor-saving devices. +Greater efficiency in cultivation, and in the preparation of produce for +the market would follow; labor now wastefully employed would be set free +for industries and the establishment of shops for the manufacture and +repair of machinery would lead to the growth of a huge engineering +industry." + +The summarized statements will be made more clear by the following +extracts from Chapter I on rural India. + +"Famine connotes not so much a scarcity or entire absence of food as +high prices and a lack of employment in the affected areas.... The +capital in the hands of the country traders has proved insufficient to +finance the ordinary movements of crops and the seasonal calls for +accommodations from the main financial centers are constantly +increasing. This lack of available capital is one cause of the high +rates that the ryot has to pay for the ready money which he needs to buy +seed and to meet the expenses of cultivation. On the other hand, money +is largely invested in the purchase of landed property, the price of +which has risen to very high figures in many parts of the country.... +But the no less urgent necessity of relieving the ryot from the enormous +load of debt with which he has been burdened by the dearness of +agricultural capital, the necessity of meeting periodic demands for rent +and his social habits, has hitherto been met only to a very small extent +by co-operative organization. The farmer, owing partly to poverty and +partly to the extreme sub-division of the land, is very often a producer +on so small a scale that it is practically impossible for him to take +his crops to the larger markets where he can sell at current rates to +the agents of the bigger firms.... A better market system, co-operative +selling, and education are the promising remedies." + +Coming to the industrial centers of the country apart from the rural +areas, the report says: + +"A characteristic feature of organised industry and commerce in all the +chief Indian centers is the presence of large agency firms which, except +in the case of Bombay, are mainly European. In addition to participating +in the export and import trade, they finance and manage industrial +ventures all over the country, and often have several branches in the +large towns. The importance of these agency houses may be gauged by the +fact that they are in control of the majority of the cotton, jute and +other mills as well as of the tea gardens and the coal mines." + +The general remarks about the industrial deficiency of the country will +be better understood from the following extracts: + +"We have already referred to the dependence of India on outside sources +of sulphur and the necessity for insisting on the local smelting of her +sulphide ores. In the absence of any means for producing from purely +Indian sources sulphuric, nitric, and hydrochloric acids, and alkalis, +our manufactures, actual or prospective, of paper, drugs, matches, oils, +explosives, disinfectants, dyes and textiles are dependent upon imports +which under war conditions, might be cut off. Sources of raw materials +for heavy chemicals are deficient. The output of saltpeter could be +raised to 40,000 tons per annum and supplementary supplies of nitrates +could be produced, if necessary, from atmospheric nitrogen; but for this +again, cheap electric power is needed. Salt occurs in abundance and the +establishment of caustic soda manufacture, preferably by an electric +process, that would also yield chlorine, is a necessary part of our +chemical programme. There are available in the country, in fair +quantity, many other raw materials necessary for heavy chemical +manufacture, in addition to those referred to under other heads; among +them may be mentioned alum, salts, barytes, borax, gypsum, limestone, +magnesia, phosphates of lime and ochres. The installation of plants for +the recovery of by-products in coking has recently been undertaken, but +for the recovery of tar and ammonia only. The recovery of benzol and +related products has so far not been attempted nor has anything been +done to utilise the tar by re-distillation or other chemical treatment. + +"Although India exported raw rubber valued in 1917-1918 at 162 lakhs, +rubber manufacture has not been started in the country and goods to the +value of 116 lakhs were imported in 1917-1918. This industry is one of +those that are essential in the national interest and should be +inaugurated, if necessary, by special measures. + +"Though textile industries exist on a large scale, the range of goods +produced is still narrow, and we are dependent upon foreign sources for +nearly all of our miscellaneous textile requirements. In addition to +these, the ordinary demands of Indian consumers necessitate the import +of some Rs. 66 crores worth of cotton piece-goods, and interference with +this source of supply has caused serious hardship. Flax is not yet grown +in appreciable quantities and the indigenous species of so-called hemp, +though abundantly grown, are not at present used in any organized Indian +industry. + +"Our ability to produce and to preserve many of our foodstuffs in +transportable forms or to provide receptacles for mineral or vegetable +oils depends upon the supply of tin plates which India at present +imports in the absence of local manufactures. + +"Our few paper factories before the war stood on an uncertain basis and +we are still dependent upon foreign manufacture for most of the higher +qualities." + +India produces enormous quantities of leather on a relatively small +scale by modern processes; and the village tanner supplies the local +needs only, and with a very inferior material. To obtain the quantities +and standards of finished leather which the country requires, it will be +necessary to stimulate industries by the institution of technical +training and by the experimental work on a considerable scale. + +"Large quantities of vegetable products are exported for the manufacture +of drugs, dyes and essential oils, which in many cases are re-imported +into India. + +"The blanks in our industrial catalog are of a kind most surprising to +one familiar only with the European conditions. We have already alluded +generally to the basic deficiencies in our iron and steel industries +and have explained how, as a result, the many engineering shops in India +are mainly devoted to the repair or to the manufacture of, hitherto +mainly from imported materials, comparatively simple structures, such as +roofs, bridges, wagons and tanks. India can build a small marine engine +and turn out a locomotive provided certain essential parts are obtained +from abroad but _she has not a machine to make nails or screws, nor can +she manufacture some of the essential parts of electrical machinery_.[1] + +"Electrical plant and equipment are still, therefore, imported, in spite +of the fact that incandescent lamps are used by the millions and +electric fans by the tens of thousands. India relies on foreign supplies +of steel springs and iron chains and for wire ropes, a vital necessity +of her mining industry. We have already pointed out the absence of any +manufacture of textile mill accessories. The same may be said of the +equipment of nearly all industrial concerns. The list of deficiencies +includes all kinds of machine tools, steam engines, boilers and gas and +oil engines, hydraulic presses and heavy cranes. Simple lathes, small +sugar mills, small pumps, and a variety of odds and ends are made in +some shops, but the basis of their manufacture and the limited scale of +production do not enable them to compete with imported goods of similar +character to the extent of excluding the latter. Agriculturists' and +planters' tools such as ploughs, _mamooties_, spades, shovels and +pickaxes are mainly imported as well as the hand tools of improved +character used in most cottage industries, including wood-working tools, +healds and reeds, shuttles and pickers. Bicycles, motor cycles and motor +cars cannot at present be made in India though the imports under these +heads were valued at Rs. 187 lakhs in 1913-1914. The manufacture of +common glass is carried on in various localities, and some works have +turned out ordinary domestic utensils and bottles of fair quality, but +no attempt has been made to produce plate or sheet glass or indeed any +of the harder kinds of commercial glass, while optical glass manufacture +has never even been mooted. The extent of our dependence on imported +glass is evidenced by the fact that in 1913-1914 this was valued at Rs. +164 lakhs. Porcelain insulators, good enough for low tension currents, +are manufactured, but India does not produce the higher qualities of +either porcelain or china.... + +"The list of industries which, though their products are essential alike +in peace and war, are lacking in this country, _is lengthy and almost +ominous_.[2] Until they are brought into existence on an adequate scale, +Indian capitalists will, in times of peace, be deprived of a number of +profitable enterprises; whilst in the event of war which renders the sea +transport impossible, India's all-important existing industries will be +exposed to the risk of stoppage, her consumers to great hardship, and +her armed forces to the gravest danger." + +In discussing the part played by Indians of all classes in the +industrial development of the Country the Commission observes: + +"It is obvious that the great obstacles are the lack of even vernacular +education and the low standard of comfort. The higher grade of worker, +the mechanical artisan, in the absence of adequate education has been +prevented from attaining a greater degree of skill. He finds himself +where he is, less by deliberate choice than by the accident of his +obtaining work at some railway or other engineering shop, or by the +possession of a somewhat more enterprising spirit than his fellows. +There is at present only very inadequate provision for any form of +technical training to supplement the experience that he can gain by +actual work in an engineering shop, while the generally admitted need +for a more trustworthy and skillful type of man is at present met by +importing charge-men and foremen from abroad." + +In short, the industrial deficiencies of India are directly due to + + (_a_) lack of education, general, scientific, and technical. + + (_b_) lack of encouragement by the Government which has so far + deliberately purchased most kinds of stores needed for government + requirements from England. + +The agricultural deficiencies are due to the same causes plus the +poverty of the ryot and his inability to secure the capital necessary +for improvements on reasonable terms of interest. Yet, in spite of this +we find the Commission laying unwarranted emphasis upon the creation of +new posts divided into Imperial and Provincial branches for Industrial, +Agricultural, and scientific experts. One should have thought that the +first recommendation should be the immediate inauguration of general +education throughout the country with adequate provision for technical, +scientific, agricultural and commercial instruction. + +The industrial development of the country needs these things: (1) +general education, (2) cheap capital, (3) skilled labor, (4) protection +against improper foreign competition. Expert advice and research are +needed very much, but no amount of research or expert advice will +advance the cause of industries unless the level of general intelligence +has been raised and some provision made for cheap capital and skilled +labor. Says the Honorable Malaviya in his separate note: + +"If the industries of India are to develop, and Indians to have a fair +chance in the competition to which they are exposed, it is essential +that a system of education at least as good as that of Japan should be +introduced in India. I am at one with my colleagues in urging the +fundamental necessity of providing primary education for the artisan and +laboring population. No system of industrial and technical education can +be reared except on that basis. But the artisan and laboring population +do not stand apart from the rest of the community; and therefore if +this _sine qua non_ of industrial efficiency and economic progress is to +be established it is necessary that primary education should be made +universal. I agree also in urging that drawing and manual training +should be introduced into primary schools as soon as possible. In my +opinion, until primary education is made universal, if not compulsory, +and until drawing is made a compulsory subject in all primary schools, +the foundation of a satisfactory system of industrial and technical +education will be wanting. Of course this will require time. But I think +that that is exactly why an earnest endeavor should be made in this +direction without any further avoidable delay." + +In support of his opinion he quotes the following pertinent observation +of Mr. Samuelson: + +"In conclusion, I have to state my deep conviction that the people of +India expect and demand of their government the design, organization and +execution of systematic technical education and there is urgent need for +it to bestir itself, for other nations have already sixty years' start +of us, and have produced several generations of educated workmen. Even +if we begin to-morrow the technical education of all the youths of +twelve years of age, who have received sound elementary education, it +will take seven years before these young men can commence the practical +business of life and then they will form but an insignificant minority +in an uneducated mass. It will take fifteen years before those children +who have not yet begun to receive an elementary education shall have +passed from the age of 7 to 21 and represent a completely trained +generation; and even then they will find less than half of their +comrades educated. In the race of nations, therefore, we shall find it +hard to overtake the sixty years that we have lost. To-morrow, then let +us undertake with all our energy our neglected task; the urgency is +twofold--a small proportion of our youth has received elementary +education, but no technical education: for that portion let us at once +organize technical schools in every small town, technical colleges in +every large town and a technical university in the metropolis. The rest +of the rising generation has received no education at all, and for them +let us at once organize elementary education, even if compulsory." + +To provide for a new department of experts on a lavish scale before +making an adequate provision for general education is putting the cart +before the horse. This has been pointed out in a very able article by +one of our premier scientists (who has taken a leading part in the +development of Indian industries) published in the _Modern Review_, +Calcutta, for March, 1919. + +Says Sir P. C. Roy: + +"We always begin at the wrong end. I should be the last person to +disparage the necessity for scientific research. The simple fact is, +however, overlooked that our agricultural population, steeped in +ignorance and illiteracy and owning only small plots and scattered +holdings, are not in a position to take advantage of or utilize the +elaborate scientific researches which lie entombed in the bulletins and +transactions of these Institutes. Mr. Mackenna very rightly observes: +The Famine Commissioners, so long ago as 1880, expressed the view that +no general advance in the agricultural system can be expected until the +rural population had been so educated as to enable them to take a +practical interest in agricultural progress and reform. These views were +confirmed by the Agricultural Conference of 1888. The most important and +probably the soundest proposition laid down by the Conference was that +it was most desirable to extend primary education amongst agricultural +classes. Such small countries as Denmark, Holland and Belgium are in a +position to send immense supplies of cheese, butter, eggs, etc., to +England, because the farmers there are highly advanced in general +enlightenment and technical education and are thus in a position to +profit by the researches of experts. The peasant proprietors of France +are equally fortunate in this respect; over and above the abundant +harvest of cereals they grow vine and oranges and have been highly +successful in sericulture; while the silk industry, in its very cradle, +so to speak, namely Murshidabad and Malda, is languishing and is in a +moribund condition. + +"Various forms of cattle plague, e.g., render pest, foot and mouth +disease, make havoc of our cattle every year and the ignorant masses +steeped in superstitions, look helplessly on and ascribe the visitations +to the wrath of the Goddess Sitala. It is useless to din Pasteur's +researches into their ears. As I have said before, our Government has +the happy knack of beginning at the wrong end. An ignorant people and a +costly machinery of scientific experts ill go together. + +"The panacea recommended for the cure and treatment of all these ills is +the foundation or re-organization of costly bureaus and Scientific and +Technical services, the latter with the differentiation of "Imperial" +and the 'Provincial' Services, which are in reality hotbeds for the +breeding of racial antipathies and sedition. For the recruitment of the +Scientific Services the Commissioners coolly propose that not only +senior and experienced men should be obtained at as early an age as +possible, preferably not exceeding 25 years. What lamentable ignorance +the Commissioners betray and what poor conception they have of this +vital question is further evident from what they say: + +"'We should thus secure the University graduate, who had done one or +perhaps two years' post-graduate work whether scientific or practical, +but would not yet be confirmed in specialization. We assume that the +requisite degree of specialization will be secured by adopting a system +whereby study leave will be granted at some suitable time after three +years' service, when a scientific officer should have developed the +distinct bent.' In other words, secure a dark horse and wait till he +develops a distinct bent! The writer of this article naturally feels a +little at home on this subject and it is only necessary to cite a few +instances to illustrate how, under the proposed scheme Indians will +fare. At the present moment there are four young Indian Doctors of +Science of British universities, three belonging to that of London. Two +of them only have been able to secure Government appointments, but these +only temporary, drawing two-thirds of the grade pay. One has already +given up his post in disgust because he could get no assurance that the +post would be made permanent. In fact, both of them have been given +distinctly to understand that as soon as the war conditions are over, +permanent incumbents for these posts will be recruited at "home." In +filling up the posts of the so-called experts one very important factor +is overlooked. As a rule, only third rate men care to come out to India. +The choice lies between the best brains of India and the mediocres of +England and yet the former get but scant consideration and justice.... +The creation of so many Scientific "Imperial" services means practically +so many close preserves for Europeans." + +In the chapter dealing with Industrial and Technical training the +Commission observes: + +"The system of education introduced by the Government was, at the +outset, mainly intended to provide for the administrative needs of the +country and encouraged literary and philosophic studies to the neglect +of those of more practical character. In the result it created a +disproportionate number of persons possessing purely literary education, +at a time when there was hardly any form of practical education in +existence. Naturally, the market value of the services of persons so +educated began eventually to diminish. Throughout the nineteenth century +the policy of the Government was controlled by the doctrine of +_laissez-faire_ in commercial and industrial matters, and its efforts to +develop the resources of the country were largely limited to the +provision of improved methods of transport and the construction of +irrigation works. Except in Bombay, the introduction of modern methods +of manufacture was almost entirely confined to the European community. +The opportunities for gaining experience were not easy for Indians to +come by, and there was no attempt at technical training for industries +until nearly the end of the century, and then only on an inadequate +scale. The non-existence of a suitable education to qualify Indians for +posts requiring industrial or technical knowledge was met by the +importation of men from Europe, who supervised and trained illiterate +Indian labor in the mills and factories that were started. From this +class of labor it was impossible to obtain the higher type of artisan +capable of supervisory work." + +After pointing out the lamentable deficiency and comparative failure of +the half-hearted measures so far taken by the Government to provide some +kind of technical education the Commission makes certain recommendations +for meeting the needs of the situation, which are supplemented by some +pertinent suggestions made by the Honorable Malaviya in his minority +report. The aforesaid summary concludes with the following paragraph: + +"To sum up, the Commission finds that India is a country rich in raw +materials and in industrial possibilities, but poor in manufacturing +accomplishments. The deficiencies in her industrial system are such as +to render her liable to foreign penetration in time of peace and to +serious danger in time of war. Her labor is inefficient, but for this +reason capable of vast improvement. She relies almost entirely on +foreign sources for foremen and supervisors; and her intelligentsia have +yet to develop the right tradition of industrialism. Her stores of money +lie inert and idle.[3] The necessity of securing the economic safety of +the country and the inability of the people to secure it without the +co-operation and stimulation of Government impose, therefore, on +Government policy of energetic intervention in industrial affairs; and +to discharge the multifarious activities which this policy demands, +Government must be provided with a suitable industrial equipment in the +form of imperial and provincial departments of Industries." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Italics are ours. + +[2] Italics are ours. + +[3] Are there any such stores? If so, where? + + + + +APPENDIX B + +A BRIEF COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF THE PRESENT INDIAN CONSTITUTION, THE +MONTAGU-CHELMSFORD SCHEME OF REFORMS AND THE CONGRESS-LEAGUE REFORM +PROPOSALS. + + + + +THE PRESENT CONSTITUTION OF INDIA + +_Under the Government of India Act, 1915_ (5 & 6 Geo. 5, c. 61). + + +I. THE SECRETARY OF STATE IN COUNCIL + +(1) His Majesty's Secretary of State for India superintends, directs, +and controls all acts relating to the government or revenues of India. +He is responsible to Parliament. He or his Council has no legislative +powers. + +(2) The Council of India consists of 10 to 14 members, appointed by the +Secretary of State for a term of seven years; and the majority of +Council must sanction expenditure of revenue and certain other specified +matters. In practice two of the members have been Indians since 1907. + +(3) The salaries of the Secretary of State, the Under-Secretaries and +the Office establishment are paid out of Indian revenues. + + +II. THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA + +(1) _General._--The Governor-General of India is appointed by the Crown. +He has the absolute power of adopting, suspending or rejecting measures +affecting safety, tranquillity and interest of India. + +(2) _Executive Council._--The Executive Council consists of five or six +ordinary members appointed by the Crown generally for five years, with +the Commander-in-chief as an extraordinary member. Governor-General in +Council is the supreme autocratic authority in India in all +administrative matters, and it directly administers certain Imperial +Departments. One member of Council is now an Indian. + +(3) _Legislative Council._--For the purpose of legislation the Council +consists of all Executive members with 60 additional members, of whom +only 27 are elected by specified electorates by a method of indirect +election. There is separate representation for Mohammedans. The +Governor-General is the President of the Council. + +The members of the Legislative Council can discuss the Budget, move +resolutions or ask questions, but the Executive Government is not bound +thereby. In other words the Legislative has no control over the purse or +the acts of the Executive. + +Every act of the Legislative requires the assent of the +Governor-General, and the Crown may also disallow the same. Besides in +cases of emergency the Governor-General has the power to promulgate laws +in the shape of ordinances, without reference to the Legislative +Council, on his own initiative or on the recommendation of Provincial +Governments. These ordinances to be in force for six months. + + + + +MONTAGU-CHELMSFORD SCHEME OF REFORMS + + +I. THE SECRETARY OF STATE IN COUNCIL + +(1) His Majesty's Secretary of State to be retained, but his salary to +be transferred to British Estimates. + +(2 & 3) A Committee is appointed to examine and report on the present +constitution of the Council of India as well as the Office +establishment. (The report of the Committee is not yet made.) + +(4) The House of Commons to be asked to appoint a Select Committee for +Indian affairs. + +(5) Control of Parliament and the Secretary of State to be modified. + + +II. THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA + +(1) _General._--The Government of India to preserve indisputable +authority on all matters relating to peace, order, and good Government. +It is to remain fully autocratic as at present. + +A Privy Council to be established in India. + +(2) _The Executive Council._--To continue as before with maximum limit +removed, but the Indian element is to be increased to two members. + +Government to be empowered to appoint a limited number of members (not +necessarily elected) of the Legislative Council as Under-Secretaries, +similar to Parliamentary Under-Secretaries in England. + +(3) _Legislative Council._--There will be two legislative Bodies. One to +be called _Legislative Assembly_ (with elected majority), and the other +the _Council of State_ (with official majority). + +The Legislative Assembly is to consist of 100 members, two-thirds of +whom would be elected. Of the nominated not less than one-third should +be non-officials. President to be nominated by the Governor-General. + +The Council of State to consist of 50 members, of whom 21 are to be +elected. The Governor-General is to be the President. + +Bills passed by the Assembly must also be referred to the Council of +State, the differences, if any, being settled by a joint session. But in +cases where the interests of peace, order and good Government, including +sound financial administration, are concerned, Governor-General shall +have powers to refer a Bill to the Council of State and it will become +law in the form approved by the Council of State even though it is not +acceptable to the Assembly. + +Legislative Assembly and the Council of State may discuss the Budget, +ask questions, and pass resolutions, but they are not binding on the +Executive. + +The Governor-General to retain his power of assenting to Acts and +promulgating ordinances on his own authority. The Crown may disallow any +Act. + +The Montagu-Chelmsford Scheme proposes periodical (decennial) +Parliamentary inquiries to revise the constitution, both for the Central +and the Provincial Governments. + + + + +CONGRESS-LEAGUE REFORM PROPOSALS + + +I. THE SECRETARY OF STATE IN COUNCIL + +(1) The Secretary of State to be retained. But his salary to be +transferred to British Estimates. + +(2) The Council of India be abolished. + +(3) There should be two permanent Under-Secretaries, one of whom should +be an Indian. The charges of the Indian Office establishment should be +transferred to British Estimates. + +(4) The proposed Select Committee of the House of Commons is not +objected to. + +(5) The Secretary of State for India should eventually occupy the same +position as the Colonial Secretary. The control of Parliament and +Secretary of State be modified only with the transfer of responsibility +of the Government of India to the electorate. + + +II. THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA + +(1) _General._--The Government of India shall have undivided authority +in matters concerning Peace, Tranquillity and Defence of the Country; +but _subject to a Statutory Declaration_ of the rights of the people of +India as British citizens, viz., that all Indians are equal before law, +equally entitled to a licence to bear arms and to have the freedom of +speech, writing, and meeting, and also the freedom of the Press, and +that no one be punished or deprived of his liberty except by a sentence +of a Court of Justice. + +That the principle of Responsible Government should be applied to the +Central Administration by dividing the subjects into (1) reserved (2) +transferred. The reserved subjects to be administered by Government +without popular control. The reserved subjects shall be Foreign affairs +(except relations with Colonies, and Dominions), Army, Navy, and +relations with Indian Ruling Princes, as well as matters affecting +public peace, tranquillity, defence of the country subject to the +Declarations of Rights mentioned above. All other subjects should be +transferred subjects--_i.e._, transferred to the popular control +exercised by the enlarged Legislative Assembly. + +There should be no Privy Council. + +(2) _Executive Council._--The Executive Council shall consist partly of +Ministers, from the Elected members of tie Legislative Council, and in +charge of the transferred subjects; and other members nominated by the +Government in charge of the reserved subjects. When there are two or +more members in charge of the reserved subjects, half the number shall +be Indians. + +(3) _Legislative Council._--There should be no Council of State, but only +one Legislative Assembly composed of 150 members, four-fifths of whom +should be elected directly by the people. The Franchise should be as +broad as possible without distinction of sex, but with a proportional +and communal representation for Mohammedans as settled at Lucknow. The +Assembly should have an elected President. (The Moslem League does not +object to the Council of State if at least half the members thereof +would be elected). + +The Legislative Assembly should have the same measure of fiscal autonomy +as Self-Governing Dominions, and should control the Budget, excepting +the reserved subjects, the allotment for which shall be a first charge +on the Revenues. All Bills must be introduced and passed in the +Assembly. + +Provided that in the case of reserved subjects if the Legislative +Assembly does not pass measures desired by Government, the +Governor-General in Council may provide for the same by regulations. +Such regulations will remain in force for one year, and shall not be +renewed unless 40 per cent (two-fifths of the members) of the +Legislative Assembly present and voting are in favour of them. + +The Governor-General to retain his existing power of making ordinances +and the Governor-General in Council the power of passing regulations. +The Governor-General and the Crown to have also power of assent, +reservation or disallowance. + +The Congress-League scheme objects to periodical Commissions for +revising the Constitution, and asks for a Statutory declaration that the +transfer of responsibility should be completed in a period not exceeding +15 years, when India should be placed on a footing of equality with the +other self-governing parts of the Empire. + + +III. THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS + +(1) _General._--India, including Burma, is divided into 14 provinces, +each of which has its own Provincial Government. + +By a system of decentralisation, revenues are allotted to all these +provinces by the Government of India. The Provincial Governments +administer, under the general supervision of the Central Government, +without being responsible to the Local Legislatures in any way. + +(2) _Executive._--Bombay, Bengal, and Madras have each a Governor sent +from England and three (one of whom is, in practice, an Indian) +Executive Councillors appointed by the Crown, with a Legislative +Council. + +Bihar and Orissa governed by a Lieutenant-Governor with Legislative and +Executive Councils; United Provinces, Punjab and Burma by a +Lieutenant-Governor with only a Legislative Council; Central Provinces +and Assam by a Chief Commissioner with only a Legislative Council, and +the remaining by Chief Commissioners without any Councils. + +(3) _Legislative._--The Provincial Legislative Councils enjoy limited +powers for legislation in the provinces. The Governor is the President +of the Council. + +The elected members of the Legislative Council are elected by +constituencies formed of Municipal and Local Boards, and Landlords with +a separate constituency for Mohammedans. They are in a minority except +in Bengal, where they have at present only a small majority. The +Legislative Councils have no control over the Executive or the Budget. + +The Acts of the Provincial Legislature must be assented to first by the +Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or the Commissioner as the case may be, +and then by the Governor-General subject always to disallowance by the +Crown. + + +PUBLIC SERVICES + +Recruitment, examination, and other matters relating to Indian services +are at present under the control of the Indian Government and the +Secretary of State, with no statutory limit for recruitment in India. + + +LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT + +Half the members of Municipalities and Local Boards are generally +elected, but the bodies are under official control. + + +III. THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS + +(1) _General._--All Provinces having Legislative Councils at present +(except Burma) should have a Governor with Executive and Legislative +Councils. A complete separation will be made between Indian and +Provincial Revenues. Provincial Governments are to have certain powers +of taxation and borrowing. + +Responsible Government is to be introduced in the Provinces by a +division of departments into reserved (for Government) and transferred +(to popular control) subject to a revision after five years. (A +Committee is appointed to settle which subjects should be transferred. +The report is not yet out.) + +(2) _The Executive_ would be a kind of Diarchy, consisting of the +Governor and two members (one of whom is to be an Indian) who will be in +charge of the reserved subjects, and responsible only to Government; and +a Minister or Ministers, nominated by the Governor from the elected +members of the Council, who will be in charge of the transferred +subjects and responsible not to the Legislature, but to the electors who +may not elect him next time. There may also be additional members +without Portfolios for the purpose of consultation. + +Ministers to have no voice in decisions concerning reserved subjects or +about the supply for them in the Budget. + +There will be Under-Secretaries and Standing Committees from the members +of the Legislative Councils to assist the Executive. + +(3) _Legislative Councils._--These would be practically two Provincial +Legislative Bodies: (1) Legislative Council. (2) Grand Committee. + +The Legislative Council will have a substantial elected majority, +elected on a broad franchise with Governor as President. (A Commission +is appointed to inquire into the question of franchise and the +composition of the Council, but the report is not yet out.) + +The Grand Committee will comprise only from 40 to 50 per cent of +Legislative Council, and its members will be partly elected by a ballot +and partly appointed by nomination. + +All Legislation and the Budget for transferred subjects only must be +passed in the Legislative Councils. + +But when the Governor certifies that a bill dealing with reserved +subjects is essential he may refer the Bill to the Grand Committee and +have it finally passed there. + +The members of the Legislative Council can ask questions and pass +resolutions, but the latter are not binding on the Executive, except +resolutions on the Budget for the transferred subjects. + +All Provincial Legislation requires the assent of the Governor and the +Governor-General, and is also subject to disallowance by His Majesty. + + +PUBLIC SERVICE + +Racial bars should not exist. In addition to recruitment in England a +system of appointment to all public services be established in India +with an increasing percentage of recruitment. In the case of Indian +Civil Service the percentage should be 33 of the superior posts, with +annual increment of 1-1/2 per cent. + + +LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT + +Complete popular control in Local Bodies to be established as far as +possible. + + +III. THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS + +(1) _General._--There should be a complete separation of the Provincial +from the Imperial Revenues. All Provincial Governments should have +certain powers of taxation and borrowing. + +(2) _Executive._--Full responsible Government should be introduced into +the Provinces. The Executive will thus consist of the Governor and +Ministers responsible to the Legislature. There should be no distinction +of transferred or reserved subjects. + +(3) _Legislative._--There should be only one Legislative Council, having +four-fifths of its members elected on a broad franchise without +distinction of sex, but with a proportional and communal representation +for the Mohammedans. The Legislative Council should elect its own +President, and must have control over the Budget. All Bills must be +introduced and passed in this Legislative Council. + +The Governor to retain his power of assent, and the Governor-General and +the Crown the power of assent or disallowance. + + +PUBLIC SERVICES + +Services should be recruited in India in a fixed and progressive +proportion. The annual recruitment in India for the Indian Civil Service +should be 50 per cent to start with, and that Indians be granted at +least 25 per cent of the Commissions in Army and the proportion be +gradually increased. There should be no racial distinctions. + + +LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT + +Municipal and Local Bodies should be completely under popular control. + + + + +APPENDIX C + + + + +REPORTS OF COMMITTEES ON FRANCHISES AND DIVISION OF FUNCTIONS + +(_London Times_ May 13, 1919) + + + The reports of the two Committees which sat in India from early in + November to the end of February last to fill out the framework of + the Montagu-Chelmsford Report published last July were issued last + night. + + The Franchise Committee, of which Lord Southborough was chairman, + recommend a scheme of territorial constituencies, urban and rural, + the latter based on the existing land revenue districts, together + with communal representation for Mohammedans and Sikhs (as + contemplated in the original scheme) and for Indian Christians, + Europeans, and Anglo-Indians: and the representation of special + interests, including commerce and industry. + + The other Committee, of which Mr. R. Feetham was chairman, make + detailed recommendations as to the division of functions between + the Government of India and the provincial Governments, and also + between "reserved" and "transferred" subjects in the provinces. + Proposals are made for the modification in some important respects + (notably in the powers conferred on the Governor) of the + "diarchial" system in the provinces set forth in what is + conveniently called the "Joint Report." + +As was indicated in _The Times_ on April 5, Lord Southborough's +Committee have not accepted the appeals addressed to them in the +interest of woman suffrage. They found it advocated "rather on general +grounds than on considerations of practicability." They are satisfied +that the social conditions of India would make such a step now +premature. They are of opinion, however, that at the revision of the +constitutions of the councils proposed in the Joint Report 10 years +after their reconstitution the matter should be reconsidered in the +light of the experience gained and of social conditions as they then +exist. + + +FRANCHISE QUALIFICATIONS + +The general proposals for the franchise are based upon the principle of +residence and the possession of certain property qualifications. In +addition the enfranchisement of all retired and pensioned officers of +the Indian Army, whether of commissioned or non-commissioned rank, is +recommended. This step was universally and strongly recommended in the +Punjab, and it is to extend to all provinces. The property qualification +is adapted to local conditions and is guided by the principle that the +franchise should be as broad as possible, consistently with the +avoidance of any such inordinate extension as might lead to a breakdown +of the machinery of election through weight of numbers. The large +proportion of illiterate voters, in the absence of a literary test, may +cause difficulty, but it has already been faced successfully in +municipal elections in India by the use of coloured ballot-boxes and +other like devices. + +No rigid uniformity of property qualification has been sought, but the +committee have proposed the same qualification for all communities +within the same area. A substantially higher proportion of the urban +than of the rural population will be enfranchised. At present the total +number of electors for the provincial councils is 33,007, and of these +no fewer than 17,448 are Mohammedans, since that community enjoys direct +representation on an individual basis. The number of voters will be +raised under the scheme to 5,179,000, being 2.34 per cent of the total +population in the eight provinces, which is nearly 220,000,000. + +The long established administrative unit of the "district" is made the +territorial area for constituencies but the relatively few cities with +large populations are to be separately represented. Occasionally towns +are grouped into separate urban constituencies. Single-member +constituencies are the general rule, but latitude is left to the local +Governments. Plural voting is to be forbidden, but this does not apply +to electors in constituencies formed for the representation of special +interests. + + +SPECIAL COMMUNITIES + +In conformity with the recognition of the Joint Report that separate +Mohammedan representation cannot be abandoned, the scheme provides for +Mohammedan constituencies. The compact of the joint session of the +National Congress and the Moslem League at Lucknow in December, 1916, is +accepted as a guide in allocating the proportion of Mohammedan seats. In +the Punjab this facility is to be extended to the Sikhs. Beyond this the +framers of the Joint Report did not propose to go; but Lord +Southborough's Committee recommend separate electorates, where the +numbers justify that course, for Indian Christians, Europeans, and the +domiciled "Anglo-Indians"--_i.e._, country-born Europeans and Eurasians. +It is observed that candidates belonging to these communities would have +no chance of being elected by general constituencies. The hope is +expressed that it will be possible "at no very distant date to merge all +communities into one general electorate." + +Other claims for separate electorates are not conceded. Regret is +expressed that the organized non-Brahmans of the Madras Presidency +refuse to appear before the Committee. It is pointed out that there the +non-Brahmans (omitting the depressed or "untouchable" classes) outnumber +the Brahmans by about 22 to one; and on the basis of enfranchisement +taken in Madras the non-Brahmans would be in the proportion of four to +one. It is held to be unreasonable to adopt the proposed expedient for a +community which has an overwhelming electoral strength. + +The alternative of reserving a considerable number of seats for +non-Brahmans in plural member constituencies did not commend itself to a +section of the non-Brahmans, though evidence went to show that such a +proposal might be accepted by the Brahmans "if it were the price of an +enduring peace." It is suggested that his Majesty's Government might +afford the parties to the controversy an opportunity, before the +electoral machinery for the Presidency is completed, of agreeing upon +some solution--_e.g._, the provision of plural member constituencies and +of a certain proportion of guaranteed non-Brahman seats. + +The separate representation of zamindars and landholders granted under +the Morley-Minto scheme is extended and provision made for university +seats. The election by accredited bodies of representatives of commerce +and industry is also continued and amplified. There is to be nomination +for the representation of the "depressed classes," for in no case was it +found possible to provide an electorate on any satisfactory system of +franchise. Labour is to be represented by nomination where the +industrial conditions seem likely to give rise to labour problems. The +majority of the Committee are of opinion that dismissal from Government +service should constitute a bar to candidature if it has taken place in +circumstances which, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, involve +moral turpitude; but Lord Southborough, Mr. S. N. Bannerjea, and Mr. +Sastri dissent, considering it improper to limit the choice of the +electorate by a disqualification based on the decision of an executive +authority. + +The size of the Provincial Legislatures will vary from 53 in Assam to +125 in Bengal. The eight Councils will comprise 796 members, made up as +follows:-- + + Elected by general constituencies, 308. + By communities, 185. + By landholders, 35. + By universities, 8. + By commercial, industrial, and planting interests, 45. + The nominated representatives will number 47, and the officials, 128. + + +THE "ALL-INDIA" BODY + +For the Indian Legislative Assembly, the Committee propose 80 elected +members, instead of the 68 suggested in the Joint Report. Fourteen +representatives appointed by nomination and 26 officials (including +seven _ex-officio_ members) will bring up the total, exclusive of the +Governor-General, to 120, as compared with 68 at present. A statement of +the manifold difficulties in the way of direct election for this +All-India body leads to the conclusion that there must be indirect +election for all general and communal seats by the members of the +Provincial Legislatures. "We trust that, in progress of time, a growing +sense of political organization will enable indirect election to be +superseded by some direct method." + +A scheme for the creation of the "Council of State" on the lines of the +Joint Report is set forth, on the basis of election thereto by +non-official members of the Provincial Councils. There would be 24 +elected and 32 _ex-officio_ or nominated members, exclusive of the +Governor-General. The electors should be left free to choose any person +qualified to be a member of a Provincial Legislature. + + + + +THE DIVISION OF FUNCTIONS + + + The first duty of Mr. Feetham's Committee was to consider what were + the services to be appropriated to the provinces, all others + remaining with the Government of India. The Committee proceeded on + the basis that there is to be no such statutory demarcation of + powers as to leave the validity of Acts passed to be challenged in + the Courts. In other words, no alteration is proposed in the system + under which the All-India Legislature as regards British India, and + each of the Provincial Legislatures as regards its own province, + have in theory concurrent jurisdiction over the whole legislative + field. + +In framing the lists the Committee have treated as All-India subjects +certain large general heads, such, for instance, as commerce and laws +regarding property, but have taken out of these and allotted to the +provinces important sections--_e.g._, in the case of the first Excise, +and in the case of the second laws regarding land tenure. Any matter +included in the provincial list is to be deemed to be excluded from any +All-India subject of which otherwise it would form part. Subjects not +expressly included in either list are regarded as All-India subjects, +but the Governor-General in Council may add to the provincial list +"matters of merely local or private interest within the province." It is +claimed that the scheme has been devised on such a basis as to leave the +way open for the process of development. + +The list of subjects to be transferred to Indian Ministers is on the +whole more extensive than the suggested list attached to the Joint +Report. With certain reservations University education is to be +transferred, as well as primary, secondary, and technical, on the ground +that the educational system must be regarded as an organic whole. But +European and Anglo-Indian education, which is organized on a separate +basis is excluded from the transfer. + +The decision of the functions of the Provincial Government, popularly +known as diarchy, has been criticized as likely to lead to friction, and +sometimes to deadlock. To mitigate these difficulties, the Committee +propose important changes in the relations of the Governor with both +sections of the Government. It is to be the duty of the Governor in +Council in the case of reserved departments, and of the Governor and +Ministers in the case of transferred departments, to take care that the +administration is so conducted as not to prejudice or occasion undue +interference with the working of any department falling in the other +category. The Governor has to decide whether a particular matter falls +within the scope of a reserved or a transferred department, and to take +care that any order given by the Governor-General in Council is complied +with by the department concerned. + + +GOVERNOR'S INCREASED POWERS + +In the case of disagreement between the Executive Council and Ministers +as to action which appears to the Governor to affect both a reserved and +a transferred department, the Governor is to give such decision as the +interests of good government may seem to require, provided that, in so +far as circumstances admit, before such decision is given the matter +should be considered by both sections of the Government sitting +together. If the Minister remains obdurate, it will be for the Governor +to dismiss and find another Minister. + +If, owing to a vacancy, there is no Minister in charge of a transferred +department, the Governor will certify that such emergency exists and +that immediate action is necessary. On such certificate being given, the +Governor in Council will have authority to take action, subject to the +obligation of reporting to the Governor-General in Council. In other +words there will be re-entry for a temporary and limited purpose during +an interregnum. This is a considerable departure from the proposal of +the Joint Report that Ministers shall hold office for the lifetime of +the Legislative Council. The power of the Governor to dismiss a +Minister, says the report, "seems essential if deadlocks are to be +avoided." The over-ruling of a minister will depend in the last resort +on the Governor's personal judgment of the situation. + + +FINANCE + +The Committee felt themselves precluded from considering any +modification of the proposals of the Joint Report for the separation of +the finances of the Government of India and of Provincial Governments. +No opinion is expressed on memoranda received at a late stage from Sir +James Meston making proposals for substantial departure from the plan of +dealing with provincial finance set forth in the Joint Report. + +It may be recalled that Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford proposed that, +if the residue of the provincial revenues is not sufficient, it should +be open to Ministers to suggest fresh taxation. The Committee take the +view that when any new provincial tax or any proposed addition to an +existing tax requires legislation to give effect to it, the decision +whether that legislation should be undertaken must rest with the +Governor and Ministers. Since the whole balance of the revenues of the +province will be at the disposal of the Ministers for the administration +of the transferred departments, the Committee consider that when an +existing tax cannot be reduced or remitted without legislation, the +decision whether legislation should be undertaken must also rest with +the Governor and Ministers. To that extent taxation for provincial +purposes should be regarded as a transferred subject. + +The assessment or collection of the tax would be reserved or +transferred, according as the agency employed belonged to a reserved or +to a transferred department. The view is also taken that, when +alterations in taxation can be effected without any change in the law, +the decision whether any alteration should in fact be made must be +recognized as resting with the Governor in Council if the department is +reserved, and with the Governor and Ministers if it is transferred. + +In respect to the powers of borrowing on the sole credit of provincial +revenues which are to be conferred, the Committee propose that, if after +joint deliberation there is a difference of opinion between the +Executive Council and the Ministers, the final decision whether a loan +should be raised and as to the amount of the loan must rest with the +Governor. + + +THE PUBLIC SERVICES + +Detailed proposals are made in relation to the public services, to be +classified as Indian (All-India), provincial and subordinate, No service +is to be included in the first of these categories without the sanction +of the Secretary of State, while the demarcation between the provincial +and subordinate services is to be left to the provincial Governments. + +General approval is given to a scheme prepared by the Government of +India providing that legislation should be undertaken in Parliament to +declare the tenure and provide for the classification of the public +service. It should secure the pensions of the All-India services, and +should empower the Secretary of State to make rules for their conduct +and rights and liabilities, and to fix their pay and regulate their +allowances. Similar legislation should be passed by the Government of +India in respect to the provincial services, and to empower the +provincial Governments to make rules for the subordinate services. The +Committee does not express any opinion on the proposal of the Government +of India to set up a statutory Public Service Commission on lines +somewhat wider than those of the Civil Commission in Great Britain. + +Among the clauses suggested for insertion in the instructions for each +provincial Governor is one enjoining him to "protect all members of the +public services in the legitimate exercise of their functions and +enjoyment of all recognized rights and privileges." + +The instructions are to charge him with the duty of safeguarding the +legitimate interests of the Anglo-Indian or domiciled community, and "to +take care that no change in educational policy, affecting adversely +Government assistance afforded to existing institutions maintained or +controlled by religious bodies, is adopted without due consideration." +The Governor is also to be instructed that he "shall not sanction the +grant of monopolies or special privileges to private undertakings which +are inconsistent with the public interest, nor shall he permit any +unfair discrimination in matters affecting commercial or industrial +interests." + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41819 *** |