END OF A NIGHTMARE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 7, 9 January 1926, Page 10

END OF A NIGHTMARE.

INDIA'S HOPEFUL FUTURE. DAWN. OF A BETTER DAY. TIDE CHANGES QUICKLY. **| — Something like a bright dawn after : a nightmare of troubles has broken oyer India. Disturbing troubles for months had cast a shadow over the country, and many of the happenings were so disturbing that the quiet, but steady improvement of 1925 failed to attract much attention from the world outside. The truth, explained Mr. N. Onnstem yesterday upon his arrival from India by the steamer Sussex, was that India was now at work. He was unable to explain the full significance of tne changes in a country so vast, but tne outlook, he said, was the brightest for years. _ , , | India was getting on her feet. Last lyear for the first time since the war 'she had balanced her. budget; her pollI ticai troubles were being straightened 1 out, and her transport system was 'undergoing its most remarkable reform j since the building of the railroads.. I Mr. Ormstein, of the Mutual Indem--1 nity and Finance Corporation of India, Ltd., had spent the past six years in i the import and export business in Cal--1 cutta and had experienced the full effects of the recent depression. Swarajist Opposition Lessens. "Easily the greatest effect upon the trade," "he explained, "has been the improved political position. The Nationalists who say, 'India for the Indians, I have been for the last three years opposed to co-operation with the Government, and have only lately begun :to realise that their own policy is unworkable. They are known as the Swarajists, and though not yet ready to work in conjunction with the ruling powers, are disposed to favour tentative advances." To show the importance of the Swarajists in India Mr. Ormstein remarked that, for example, in Bengal, the municipality of Calcutta was altogether Swarajist, with a Swarajist Lord Mayor. The Legislative Council had a majority of the same party, and, for the last two years, this had made it impossible to introduce reforms or to carry out the policy of the Government. The Swarajists refused to sanction Ministers' salaries, and the situation was little, short of a stonewall to development and progress. India, therefore, had much to hope from the Swarajists' willingness to give a tentative recognition to responsible Ministers. The session of Parliament that began in the middle of December, while the Sussex was en route to Auckland, promised in the circumstances, ito be one of much importance. For more than a year and a-half India had suffered all the disadvantages of bureaucratic, or departmental government, and the rule, with the Swarajists in the majority, had been a negative one, of "do-nothingness." "In Behar, Orissa and the Punjab," continued Mr. Ormstein, "Swarajists have seceded from their party and have taken responsible positions under the Indian Government. That is to say, there is now a split in the Swarajist party. The Khalifatists, or Moslems, were previously in opposition to the Government, but their opposition has gradually lost its keenness, as they also have recognised the improvement in India's condition, in spite of difficulties'." It was acknowledged in India that Lord Reading had been mainly responsible for this improvement. He went to India as Viceroy in 1921, and would complete' his term of office in April. His successor would be the Rt. Hon. Edward F. Wood. Advent of Motors. Apart from politics, Mr. Ormstein explained that the most remarkable change in India was the opening up of the country by motor vehicles. Motor lorries and buses were being used to such an extent that even the big railway companies were considering the organisation of lorry services to feed the rail heads. The only bar to this was the bad condition of the roads. In the rainy season, from June to the end of October, they were so broken up in many provinces that motor traffic was prohibited except in the dry season. Politics and transport had not been the only problems with which the Government and people of India had to cope. Scarcely less important had been the exchange position. Thirty years ago India sought to put an end to her currency troubles by stabilising the rupee. But, until eighteen months ago, the rupee had fluctuated violently for two and a-half years, between 1/3 and 1/6. In 1925, however, there was a marked improvement, and the rupee had I been steady at about 1/6. *>"I believe the Indian Currency Commission, which has been sitting since the beginning of December, to inquire into the exchange position, will fix the rate at 1/6," observed Mr. Ormstein "although vested interests in Bombay wish to have it at 1/4." Removal of Excise. One of India's leading fiscal reforms last year Wvas the removal of the excise duty on cotton goods. The piece goods trade had been rather slack until tlie beginning of November, when the duty was raised; and the change that took place was quite marked. The sale of | Indian-made textiles, as well as Euroipean, had been much stimulated; and this, combined with very abundant jute wheat and co.ton crops, had brought prosperity to India. u*-uu o n. "Everybody foresees a great improvement in trade conditions," said Mr ! Ormstein. "Last year there were mam-lock-outs in the cotton mills, especially m the Bombay provinces, lasting in some cases for 'four or five months " |In explanation-of the lock-outs, it was ■ t l, that lar s e stocks ha <l accumulate, and the cessat.on of work had enabled : mill-owners to clear off surpluses. M X , had resumed working, and the removal |of the excise would assist in mSna cci c cd c i C n°dT tition ' ""* ** K5 Mentioning that the tea exnort h*,l increased tremendously *2° 1922 though there had been a falliL „« • r h ttt M H ora --hSrby ff S aving that the country l_ a .i ,_"/ -.7 entered upon better times and' I*'1*' -SM s slf?S and is trade conditions' g& !Tt