REAL PROGRESS IN INDIAN AFFAIRS.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20789, 24 February 1933, Page 17

REAL PROGRESS IN INDIAN AFFAIRS.

<* REVIEW OF WORK OF CONFERENCE. EXPLANATION OF PLAN FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT. (TOOK OUR OWN CORaESPONDEKT.) LONDON, December 29. Sir Samuel Hoare, Secretary of State for India, recently broadcast an account of the work of the Indian Round Table Conference. When the complexities and contrasts of the vast Indian continent were remembered, he said, it would not be said that they had been -wasting their time. The issues were much too difficult and grave to be rushed. Two centuries of British partnership with India had imposed great responsibilities on our shoulders. These responsibilities we could not set aside, nor with all our record of great and stable government could we allow changes to tako place that would plunge India into instability and confusion. For more than two years, then, they had been trying to harmonise three elements—Great Britain, British India, and the Indian States —which, if they were not brought into tune, would become more and more discordant. This had meant an attempt to assign the duties for which each of the three interests would in future be responsible. It bad also meant that British and Indians alike had inevitably roaliaed that there were certain conditions thai must be satisfied before any progress could be made. First, India must have a greater measure of self-government. Every enquiry, including the Simon Commission, had emphasised this essential need. Second, there must be no encroachment on the rights of tho Indian Princes other than the rights that they themselves might wish to cede to an Indian Federal Government. Third, the obligations that have resulted from the British partnership with India must be effectively safeguarded. These were the conditions that they had been trying to satisfy in'their long discussions. He did not say that they had solved all the difficulties; he did not say that they had reached agreement upon all of them; but he did say that as a result of the three Round-Table Conferences a scheme , was emerging for future consideration of Parliament that would, he believed, safeguard the rights and interests of each of the three parties—Great Britain, British India, and the India of the Princes —and would at tho same time give Indians greatly increased scope for managing their own affairs. The Scheme Outlined. The scheme was bound to be complicated. It was certain to be full of anomalies. It would be open to cnti- < cisin as much from tho cxtrme Right that wanted no chango as from the extreme Left that clamoured for complete change. Could they expect anything else wfeen they remembered the exceptional complexities of their task? In the first two conferences they marked out, tho ground. In this last conference they had been following the wise injunction of the poet William Blake and had "been labouring well the minute particulars." , , The form that the scheme had taken was something like this: — First, a Federal Government, representing the Indian States and the Indian Provinces. The purpose of a Federal Government was to provide for the management of matters which were of common concern to the units composing, it. The Indian Federal Government would be responsible for administering a list of Federal subjects—namely, those that affected all India, such as customs duties, commerce, posts, and railways. . Next, autonomous Provinces, that was to say,' Provinces that to all intents and purposes would for the first timo govern themselves, and side by side with the Provinces the Indian States, which had never ceased to manage their own internal affairs. As to the size of these units, Hyderabad, for example, had a much larger population than Belgium, and the population of Bengal was greater than that of Great Britain. Last, a field of Imperial obligations, such as defence, foreign afEairs, and a general obligation" to maintain the financial stability of India, and for protecting India from any grave menace to internal order for which there would ■ be imposed a special responsibility on the Governor-General, acting as the representative of the British Crown. This was the threefold .scheme. In the next few months they intended to draft it into precise form and to place it before a strong committee, representative of the main bodies of opinion in Parliament. The proposals had behind them a substantial body of Indian opinion, as was shown by the proceedings of the Round-Table Conference. Moreover, the British delegation had included such leaders of different schools of thought as the Prime Minister, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Hailsham, Lord Reading, Sir John Simon, and Lord Irwin. Neither in tho letter nor the spirit would they be found to transgress the pledges that had been given to India on the one hand and Great Britain on the other. Common Pool of Discussion. East and West had met together in the friendly atmosphere of a royal palace. East and West had sat at the Round Table on terms of mutual equality and had placed their hopes and fears in the common pool of discussion. This intimate relationship would have a lasting influence ufjon future dealings with India. It was indeed appropriate that the chamber in which they held their discussions of the last few weeks was his Majesty's Robing Room in the House | of Lords. Upon the wall was a fresco'■ depicting King Arthur welcoming Sir j Tristram and his friends to the Gompionionship of the Round Table. In their own way they were trying to maintain King Arthur's tradition and to welcome their Indian friends to the perpetual Companionship of the Round Table of the British Empire. Well satisfied with their visit, a party of 50 tourists from the Cunnrd liner Carinthia returned to Auckland from ltotorua on Monday evening. Visitors from overseas are always keen to see something of the Maori life, and, •as much of the party's entertainment at ltotorua was provided by the natives, they were not disappointed. At Whakarewarewa they were given a characteristic reception, being addressed by Chief Mita Taupopoki, while in the evening they were entertained at a Maori concert. The arrangements for sightseeing seemed to meet with approval. The new Blue Bath was kept open later than usual on Saturday evening,, and many of the visitors availed themselves -of the opportunity to bathe. The train accommodation, too, brought forth expressions of approval, and on arrival in Auckland the trew of the engine. '. which hauled tlio special train, was complimented on its efficient running. ; On the homeward run the train passed through Mnmaini while the local sports [ meeting was on, and at tbe tourists' ' request a halt was made to enable 1 them to -witness the final of the I4in 1 standing chop; they were impressed with the art of the bushmen.