PLANS FOR INDIA.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 167, 18 July 1938, Page 9

PLANS FOR INDIA.

GREAT EXPERIMENT.

BRITAIN'S GIGANTIC TASK.

PAST AND FUTURE SURVEYED.

"One of the greatest experiment* in history." This was the description given by Mr. L. B. Burrowe, C.8.E., to British constitutional plans for India, in an address to Auckland TvotarTans to-dav.

Mr. Burrows spoke with first-hand knowledge, as he has recently retired after spending over 30 years in* the Bengal Civil Service. The immensity of the country, the density and complicating nature of its huge population, were first stressed by the speaker. The new constitution, drawn up by the British Parliament, he said, represented an attempt to add to the British Commonwealth of Nations a country about 31 times the size of New Zealand, and containing 300 times as many people. These sprang from several alien and antagonistic racial stocks, professing many religions, some with one god, sonic with many gods and some with no gods at all, epeaking 223 languages and countless dialects. Truly Remarkable. Tracing the historical development of British administration in India, Mr. Burrows said that Indian Nationalism did not grow much until the Great War of 1914-18. The effort then made by India to help and support the Empire was truly remarkable, and the British Government prepared in 1917 to show ite gratitude in a practical form. India's new etatus was recognised when she became a founder-member of the League of Nations. The new constitution, with its eelf-governing provisions, was described as well as the establishment of Ministries and various political organisations.

The success of any constitution, commented the speaker, depended more upon the spirit in which it was worked than upon the terms in which it was framed. That spirit had been uniformly good eo far, and the new constitution had, on the whole, worked remarkably well.

In every day administration there had not been much difference in condi: tions of living and working. Favourable Outlook. Dealing with the future Mr. Burrows considered the outlook fair and favourable, but there were many disturbing problems that would need to be solved.

India was undoubtedly strongly nationalist in aspiration, but the essential spirit of unity and mutual trust was eadly lacking, and nationality could not be achieved by talk and selfhypnotism.

He had of ton been asked whether Tndia really wanted complete independence with severance from Britain. The first point to remember in this connection was that at least two-thirds of the Indian population of 250,000,000 neither knew nor cared anything about politics, and that about half of the minority had only the crudest conception of British motives. He usually replied in the words of a great Indian, the Mahara jadhiraja Bahadur of Burdivan that if he were, asked the straight question, 'can England afford to lose India, or can India do without England*' his answer would be "No" to both, with a much bigger and louder "No" from the Indian side.