REFORMS OR BOMBS ?

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 452, 10 March 1909, Page 7

REFORMS OR BOMBS ?

V, INDIAN TERRORISM. INGfeASED ANARCHIST ACTIVITY. iBI IKLIIIUriI—I'UESS ASSOCIATION—COriUTOfT7.) ! ; London, March 8. ~ TheJDaily Mail" states that, owing to the modificiticii of the Indian Councils Bill by the Hiuse of Lords and the non-release of : deporttd Hindus, there is much activity : iifong,lß ; !ißji at&• ctists, particularly in iho Bcnga. province. Elalorate precautions for the safety of high officials aro being taken. , There." are hundieds of polico,i a the'Vicoroy's camp at Assam.

\ "TREMENDOUS. INNOVATION." . Referring to the question/ 0 f reform in India tlie London Times' of January 11 states: Wo neeJ not attempt to co;«al f rom ourselves that the contemplated elusion of cons ti Inrights to the Intlmi, peoples must to •??? weaken .the semi-autocratic authoror'l ifl W tv?- b y i ß r lt "h administrators, and thut the additional influence, which any system of popular elections, Wever ingeniously - devised, inevitably confer upon the numerically most powerful sectitu 0 f the community, will introduce an cntire v new Sr .into the problem of Indian gover)ij} Cn t That .is the price we are prepared to wyjnthe hope of satisfying what we regari. { s •jL ■ mate aspirations-aspirations whici coXnt • with our own civilisation lias eagendi rs ,|. a ' n ,j , we feel confident that the statesmaiishij of ■ race will prove equal to the lieavj Jnif s which it will'have to meet in this uev o. '.w----ot tilings, '■ From what may be conveniently- caller ti,„ 1 point of ..view of British administration" to p , most contentious points are the apnointu"iyf of an Indian member to tho Executive CW, cils of the Viceroy and to the Executive Coil." cils of the Governors of Bombay and' Madra" and the decision to dispense with an official majority in all other Legislative Councils than that of the Viceroy. . . . Apart from many other objections to the introduction of an Indian into the stronghold of British Indian administration, the very gravo disturbances which have quite recently taken place around Calcutta xtuelf between Mohammedans and Hindus as the result 01 religious conflicts illustrate the almost insoluble difficulty which the question presents. Can any Hindu be found who would in all circumstances command the confidence of Mohammedans, or vice verse? Lord Morley dwelt, no doubt rightly, on the assistance he has himself derived from the Indian members appointed to his Council; but in London they are at, least removed as far o.s possible fr.om the formidable pressure of racial, religious, and caste feeling , which in nny moment of _crisis would be brought to bear with well-nigh irresistible force upon Indian members of Council in their own country. Is it wise, at any rate, to make this "tremendous innovation," to borrow Lord I.nnsdowne's expression. beforo we have had time to experience the results of the many other far-reaching innovations involved in Lord Morley's reforms? To dispense altogether with official majorities on the Provincial Legislative Councils is al. ready a sufficiently bold generalisation from the single example of the Bombay Presidency.