THE DELHI OUTRAGE.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14547, 26 December 1912, Page 6

THE DELHI OUTRAGE.

Political outrages have not been so numerous in India during tbo last year or two as they wero a few years ago, and thoro, was some reason, to hope that th) worst phase of a desperate agitation was over. But, in spite of tho fac■; that no special precautions were taken in connection with Lord Hardingo's visit to Delhi, the Indian police no doubt realised that the danger of an attempt being made on the life of .some highly-placed personage was lovier present, and to people in touch with Indian affairs tho attack on Lord Hnrdinge may have caused more indignation than surprise. In these days of unrest there must always bo a few imen in so huge a population who are ready to plot tho assassination of the Governor-General, and Lord Harding© probably realised that as much as the officials responsible for his safety. An attempt was made to assassinate the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal in 1903, and «v year later two bombs were thrown at the Viceroy, Lord Minto, as he rode through tho streets of Jaipur. But for the fact that the missiles fell on sand, both ho and Lady Minto might have been killed. The attempt on Lord Hardinge's life was made at a dramatio moment, when the Viceroy was entering Delhi to inaugurate the site of the new capital of India, and the would-be assassin may have counted on the people of India being deeply impressed by tho killing of the Emperor's representative- under such circumstances." The Governor-General and his wifo had a marvellous escape, for an attendant who was holding an umbrella over Lord Hardinge was killed. Both showed coolness and courage worthy of their rank and race, and we may be sure that when tho Viceroy recovers, they will resume tho performance of ptibiio duties without flinching. In the meantime tho whole Empire will sympathise with them, and hope that the outrage will not be followed by any serious result.

Clearer light is thrown on tho Peace Conference in London by the statement published this morning about the Allies' terms. The Balkan League wish to confine Turkey to tho isthmus of which. Constantinople is tho point, and to the isthmus of .Gallipoli, possession, of which is necessary to Turkey if she is to retain control of the Dardanelles. The cession of the islands of the iEgean, and tho abandonment of Turkish rights in Crete, are aJso demanded, but the Albanian question is to be left to the Powers. Turkey, of course, will fight in the Conference for more territory to tho westward of Rodosto, and she will not bo prepared to give up all the occupied islands, but in both matters it should not bo impossible to arrive at a compromise. Tho Allies are doubtless asking for more than they expect to get. The relegation of tho Albanian problem to the Powers is an indication that the Balkan States are really desirous of peace. As f.or Crete, Turkish rights there have long been shadowy, and it is time tho last vestiges of Turkish authority were removed.

Wo aro glad that the Canterbury College Council, at its meeting on Monday, approved 1 of the establishment of a course- of instruction in architecture, and we hopo the College finances will permit of classes being started. As Mr Jlurst Seager mentioned in his letter, the fact that Canterbury College has an Engineering Schoolis an argument for the instruction in architecture contemplated by the Senate being given in Christchureh in preference to the other centres. Another good reason is the fine examples of architecture to be seen in Christchurch, which could not help having a beneficial influence on students, esnecially students from other places. In a vouns country one cannot expect architecture to receive its due importance, but we have arrived now at a stage of development when this branch of art should receive much more attention than has hitherto been given to it. Tho influence of the architect on the community is not sufficiently realised. An ugly picture is hidden in a building and offends only a few, but an ugly

building is a standing offence to every person of artistic sensibilites who frequent its neighbourhood.

There have been many attempts made to define a gentleman, perhaps the best being tho definition given by Cardinal Newman. An admirable description of •'manners" was given by Lord Moulton. Lord of Appeal, at a recent dinner of tho Authors' Club, presided over by Mr Anthony Hope Hawkins. "Manners," said his Lordship, "were the doing that- which you should- when you were not obliged to do it." He did not want to call it duty, and ho would not call it morals. It was the doing right when there was no ono to make you but Yourself.

The subject of Lord Moulton's speech was "Law and Manners," and he went on to urge that thr> civilisation of a nation —ho might almost say its greatness —-was measured by the extent of what he called its law of obedience to the unenforceable. Unfortunately, ho showed that this law was being encroached upon, and, as an example, he took freedom of debate in the great Legislatures. For centuries, all the members bad the free right of debate, and then came a time when people said : "Wo have got the free right of debate; wo will uso it so as to destroy debate. Our freedom enables us to do it." And they shut their eyes to the fact that that freedom was given them in trust to help debate. Obstruction was developed, and it had destroyed freedom of debate in practically every Legislature. Tho freedom had been treated as a case of absolute freedom of choice, with no duty that they wero bound to regard. Tho old freedom could not now be entrusted to people, because they did not now respond to it by that moral sense which would enable them to treat it as a trust, and not as an absolute possession.

Lord Moulton then went on to tako a case where they had deliberately carved out of positive law a domain, and thrown it into the domain of choice. Ho referred to the Trades Disputes Act, the Trades Union Act, and other Statutes giving both masters and workers the freedom to combine. That, he said, was dono deliberately by tho choice of the English nation, but to" his mind, the whole future of our law depended upon whether these masters or workmen who gained this new, vastpower forbidden by the old Common Law, had absolute choice, or whether they took it as belonging to tho realm where they might do what they liked, but had tho duty of obedience to tho unenforceable. Ho then pointed out that at tho time of the general coal strike, thero wero many voices raised in a tone quite unknown to them, saying: "We can, by a universal strike, bring the nation to its knees." A proof of the extent to which the senso of duty ran in the nation was that those cries were not heeded, and they camo out of that crisis with a few Labour laws which would have to bo modified many, many times before they worked, and with a very slight skin wound. We have been told on still higher authority than that of Lord Moulton, that all things which aro lawful are not expedient. This is an axiom of which we often need to bo reminded in these days, when there is a perfect lust for law-making, and so many people seem possessed with tho delusion that the mere passing of a. law can change tho wholo character of human nature, and tho wholo course of society. Lord Moulton has dono a good service in pointing out that obedience to the "unenforceable" may bo even of more importance than obedience to the law.