INDIA & SEVRES TREATY.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17401, 11 March 1922, Page 11

INDIA & SEVRES TREATY.

PUBLICATION OF TELEGRAM.

UNAUTHORISED BY CABINET.

SECRETARY of state resigns.

uJLiPv'k" - *'™" Aatociation—Copyrisht.) (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.)

LONDON, March 9. , Montagu has resigned the office of oeeretary of State for India. It is understood that the Prime Minister personally requested Mr Montagu to resign.

Mr Austen Chamberlain, referring in the House of Commons to the publication 'of the Indian Government's telegram appealing for a revision of the Sevres Treaty, said it was published uy the Government of India with the sanction of Mr Montagu (Secretary pf State for India), but no other Minister had been consulted. Mr Chamberlain said he desired to abstain from comment on the telegram, although its terms exceeded those deby the Turks' warmest friends. I his was a matter for discussion at the conference in Paris. Mr Chamberlain stated that the Government was unable to reconcile the publication of tlio tel e g ram on the sole responsibility of Mr Montagu with the collective responsibility of Cabinet, or with the duty which all governments of the Empire owed to each other in matters of Imperial cohcern. Such independent declarations destroyed the unity of policy which it was vital to preserve in foreign affairs, and gravely imperilled the success of the pending negotiations, [Publication of the despatch from the Government of India appealing for a revision ef the Sevres Treaty, for the evacuation of Constantiople, the suzerainty of the Sultan over the Holy Places of Islam, and the restoration of Ottomun Thrace caused considerable com ment in Loudon. The "l>aily Chroni icle" pointed out that, though the Indian GoVerinttent had been urging the necessity of a Near Eastern settlement for the last threo years, this was the first- occasion on which specific demands have been made. The demands exceeded Turkish expectations, and went further than tho authors realise. The grant of Adrianople and Thraoe to the Turks would give Turkey and Bulgaria a common frontier, and Jugo-tSlavia, Greece, and Rumania at once would become alarmc-l. Tho restoration of the Sultan's suzerainty over the Holv PlatOs, namely Aarianopl©, Jerusalem, Medina, and Serbia, would mean tho undoing of the whole of the present* Near Eastern settlement, the abolition of the Arab kingdoms of Irak and Hedjftz, and the abandonment of the British mandate over Palestine. "Tho limes," in i leader said: The mere fact of publication goes far to commit the Government to support the Indian Government, whose views must be ade?untelv considered at the forthcoming ►am'.Conference. Besides religious susceptibilities, thore are other causes in : Indian unrest, especially Gandhi » ngitatiin. We trust, therefore, that nenva of Gandhi's arrest jvill shortly be received, and that the Government of India will adequately punish his associates."]

MR MONTAGU DEFENDS HIS ACTION. STKONGCOMMENT BY PBIMS I MINISTER. (Received March 10th, 5.5 P-i&O LONDON, March & Mr E. S. Montagu, in forwarding his resignation to Mr Lloyd George, wrote: "AtW our conversation this morning, ' I feel it my duty to resign. In sanctioning publication of _ the T Vievvß_°r the Government of India, not seo much, if anything, which they baa not said again and again. Since the Peace Conference, I have been fully seised with the grave difficulties which have -resulted irom the Treaty _of Sevres in India, and I felt I was doing my duty ih doing everything in my power' to support the Government of India. When; therefore. I was assured that the Government of Indiai regarded the matter as one of great urgency, I felt justified in the action 1 took. I believe that much would be gained and little lost by giving publicity to these matters. » „ : !"I . regret leaving the Government, but " despite its present difficulties, I feel that the present, policy 6f the Government of India will win through to success." Prime Minister's Reply.

Mr Lloyd George,j in replying, said: "I do not doubt you were actuated solely by a sense of public duty. Nevertheless, without, pressing necessity and without consulting eitiier Cabinet, the Foreign Secretary, myself, or any one cf niy colleagues, you published a telegram raising a question whose importaiice extendi far beyond the frontiers of or the responsibilities of your office. Such action is totally Miccmjjatible with the collective responsibility of Cabiilet to the Sovereign and to Parliament. . I cannot doubt that on reflection yotl will dhare my view that after What lias occurred we cannot usefullv 00-operate in the same Cabinet. '•I niust add that the right of the Government of India to state its views tin the Eastern question is not in dispute ThbwovetiuAent baa afforded ' Mohammedan opinion m India every possible opportunity Of expresing its views If the -governments of the Emnire were all to claim the liberty of publishiniif declarations on matters vitally affecting the relations of tilie whole Empire with foreign Powers, the unity of Sur foreign policy would be broken and the existenoe of the Empire jeo* moment chosen for your action, moreover* h indofenslb.© front the stfljidpoint which must govern our notion on broad Imperial interests A conferencs on the Near East is about to take plate, and the questions to' be discussed there are of the utmost dolicticy. Ihe weight of responsibility whidh the Foreign Secrtftnrv will have to carry will, in any caae.V most serious, and your itftm has added considerably to the difficultic# of a task which is already difficult 6 ln ß a' postscript, thePrirtie Minister added that the pubheation the tolegram fiom Mr Montagu te th<Viceroy of India would I of the manifesto, afld the Government could not consent to such a course. Mr-Montagu's resignation max further delay Mr Lloyd George's holiday.

EFFECT ON INDIAN OPINION,

MOHAMMED A# ASPIRATIONS,

("Th« Tita«-"> "The Timaa," i« » tfSll K "Mr Utttw* "•*■£££ i » &ffl*" "

far-reaching that it is necessary to take urgent ste£ to prevent its spread, ana persuade Indian opinion tnat ih - tague's Agnation does not indicate any weakening of the Imperiil G ment's efforts to secure the fulie most favourable treatment of ± ft j ns medan aspirations. Similarly, no P should be spared to make gam Britain's position regarding the' East during the forthcoming eg tions with our Allies and what rem steps must bo taken. +(i/> "The lack of co-ordination in. tne Government remains the chief which made Mr Montagu's conduct possible. The Government must a « some proof of its power to de . . ently and firmly with great Impe issues or give place t° s. OI P. e , n(rn jnst tfation less dangerously divided agai itself."

HOUSE OF COMMONS VIEWS.

MR MONTAGU'S SUCCESSOR.

(Received March Wth, 9.30 P- 1 ? 1 -) LOXIX>\ March 10. Members of the House of Commons are eagerly discussing the sit .. which has arisen as a result of the 6 nation of Mr E. S. Montagu much sympathy is being shown . fallen Minister the majority hem? openly delighted at his departure, ous names are mentioned as .J"* 5 Z cessor, anions tihem being the D'ikc . Devonshire, Lord Derby, the Earl or Crawford, and Mr Churchill.

INDIAN GOVERNMENT'S PROPOSALS.

SUPPORTED BY LORD ISLINGTON. (Received Lord Islington, who wfls Under-SM-retary for India from 1915 to 1918, welcomed Lord Reading's proposals which he snjrs are similar to his own recommendations made in the House of Lords. Every effort should be made to Btop Greece's aggressive war against Turkey.

LORD SYDENHAM'S CRITICISM.

I (Received March 10th, 6.5 p.m.) I LONDON, Maach 9. Lord Sydenham, in an interview, Bftys: "The step taken by, the Government of India is a dangerous precedent, which is thoroughly unconstitutional, though it it natural that being in a position of the gravest difficulty which Mr Montagu's guidance has helped to create, it should grasp at any straw which }t has been induced to think might help to save the situation. I do not believe the fulfilment of Lord Reading's demands, which are impossible% will have the smallest effect in ameliorating tho dangerous position in India, where Mohammedan excitement has passed beyond control. Sir O'Mooro Creagh, formerly Com-mander-in-Chief in India, considers Lord -.trading's proposals are "an absolutely cowardly surrender to Gandhi and opposed to the'wishes of orthodox Mohammedan India."