TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 9836, 20 September 1897, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The sentence inflicted upon tUo Sedition Hon. Ganghadur Tilak, lnemin bet of the Legislative Council India, of Bombay, for publishing sedi-

tious matter in his native paper, the Kesari, may perhaps give a wholesome check to his brother editors in India, who have been doing their best for years to stir up disaffection to the British Government. The passages in Tilals's paper on which the charges against him were based are not all of them very intelligible to English readers. Some of them have a decided flavour of " Baboo Euglish" about them, while others are so wrapped up in Eastern imagery as to require an Eastern cast of mind to fully appreciate the insinuations and innuendoes against the British which they contain* But a passage taken from a speech delivered by a native professor at some re. ligious festival, which was re-printed in the Kesari is fairly straightforward. Whether Tilak was. suspected of having written the speech does not appear, at any rate the prosecution held him responsible for it. The passage was as follows—" We are all of us striving to regain our lost independence, and this terrible load is to be uplifted by us all in combination. It will never be proper to place obstacles in the way of any person who with a true mind follows the path, of uplifting this burden in the manner he deems fit. Our mutual dissensions impede our progress greatly. If anyone be pressing down the nation from above, cut him off, bnt do not put impediments in the way of others. Let bygones be bygones. Let us forget and forgive one another. Have we nob had enough of that strife which would have the same value in the estimation of great men as a fight among cats and rate. All occasions like the present festival, which tend to unite the whole nation, must be welcome/ , Tilak, a short square-built man, of about forty-six, and of the dark ordinary Mahratta type, took things calmly enough. His printer, on the other hand, was intensely miserable. It is noteworthy that the leading members of the European Bar in Bombay refused to accept briefs on behalf of the prisoner, who accordingly had to be defended by a Parsee barrister. This was decidedly the right course for the English lawyers to pursue, and no doubt was not without its effect upon the native population, who were intensely excited over the affair.

The arrest of Ganghadur Tilak Farther in Bombay was followed by Arrests, that of two wealthy Poona

brothers named Natu, on charges of disloyalty to the British Government. The procedure in this case created an immense sensation among Europeans and natives alike, for it was carried out under a Government of India regulation dating back to 1827, which has the strength of a kttrc de cachet. This regulation empowers the Viceroy to issue a warrant under his sign manual for the arrest and deportation, without trial, of anyone known to bo engaged in disloyal practices. By this method, says a Bombay correspondent, the Government of Lord Dufferin was enabled to arrest the Maharajah Dhuleep Siug at Aden, and thus render abortive his mission to stir up discontent in the Punjab, which was planned during his sojourn in Russia. Tho arrest of the Natus was effected at sunrise, and the brothers were placed in closed carriages and escorted by a formidable body of mounted police and troops to places outside the city limits, one being incarcerated at Ahmedabad and the other at Tiiana, there to be detained during the pleasure of the Government. The Natus are an old and wealthy family, deriving very large revenues from lands and villages given to their forefathers by the British as rewards for services rendered in quelling rebellion. It is a queer turn of the wheel that these lands should now be attached by the Government on account of the visloyalty of the owners. The elder of the brothers was at one time a local magistrate, but his authority was withdrawn by the Government because he became connected wit-h native agitators. During the last few years they have been ringleaders in movements among the natives which have caused the Government great anxiety. Some little time ago, during the time the plague was raging in Poona, the elder Natu was sent, among other people, to the segregation camp, to the immense surprise of the natives, who could not understand how a wealthy man and a native leader could possibly be treated like common people. Natu himself was greatly annoyed, and it is possibly because he allowed his annoyance to lead him to plot too deeply against the British authorities that ho is" now under lock and key. The victims of the Poona murders included an Army lieutenant, who is believed to have been mistaken for the medical authority in charge of the plague prevention operations, and perhaps the Government think Natu knew rather too much about the murders. Tho proper Government of India requires, it has been said, a hand of steel within a glove of velvet. The velvet glove may still be there, or ifc may have been temporarily removed, but there cau bo no doubt just now about the hand of steel being in good working order.

If a German paper, said to A be usually well informed Russian about Russian affairs, is Sensation, correct in its statements

Russia has been on the verge of a revolution, which might have been peaceful or otherwise according to the behaviour of the Czar. The story goes that the progressive policy of the Czar was at the bottom of the affair. This so dis raayed some of the most influential members of the Court that the latter induced the Dowager Empress to spread the news that the Czar was still suffering from the effects of the blow on the head he received while touving in Japan. As a matter of fact the Czar is said to have beejv perfectly well, but there is' no doubt statements as to his ill health were spread about and were even cabled out to the colonies. However, it suited the malcontents at Court to make out that ho was seriously indisposed, and it was agreed that he should be induced to go abroad for a considerable time ; entrusting the regency to the Dowager Empress, his mother. The scheme was within a few days of being put into practice when someone told the Czar of the intrigue which was afoot. Following the advice of a loyal Court official the Czar assembled a part of his personal bodyguard in a hall and then sent for those who were concerned in the alleged plot." When they were all assembled he told them that he knew everything. They were confounded, and their disquietude increased when the Czar opened a door and they saw his faithful bodyguard in the adjoining room. As a good son he did not reproach his mother in the least; bub severely blamed the Court Minister, Prince Varonzoff-Daschkoff, whom he ordered to resign, at once, an order whioh was, of course, obeyed* A further consequence of the incident, it is said, will probably be the Empress Dowager's permanent removal to Copenhagen. There are various reasons for doubting the truth of this extraordinary story, one being that tho Czar's mother, as sister to the Princess of Wales, is an enlightened lady who, one would think, would be only too glad to support any scheme for bringing the Russian people more into line with Western civilisation. At the same time it must be admitted ihat the story, if true, 'would be mvwh o£ a piece with a good deal of the history of the Russian Court. .