Evening Post. TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1930. THE DEVELOPMENTS IN INDIA

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 49, 26 August 1930, Page 8

Evening Post. TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1930. THE DEVELOPMENTS IN INDIA

| Attention was called by an unofficial report from Delhi yesterday to aspects of India's troubles which have figured inconspicuously or not at all in the Viceroy's periodical "appreciations." The economic boycott, which seems to be by far the most powerful weapon in the hands of the Nationalists, has naturally received less attention in these appreciations than such dramatic episodes as the Afridi threat to Peshawar, and the clashes of riotous crowds with the police and of Hindus with Moslems. Criticism of the administration has necessarily had no place in these official documents at all. But yesterday's unofficial message showed that the economic boycott and the alleged weakness of the Indian Government are troubling the European mind in India more seriously than the fear of mob violence. The re-, solution passed by the 2000 European residents of Calcutta was in itself vague enough to be quite safe. It went no further than

supporting tho Simon Commission's proposals regarding the future government in India, "subject to modifications," and calling on the Government to deal firmly with tho Congress agitation. ■ ,'■

"Subject to modifications" is a saving clause formally wide enough to include the changes which would be needed to accommodate the recommendations bf the Simon Commission to the views of Mr. Gandhi, But the demand made upon the Government "to deal firmly with the Congress agitation" shows plainly enough that even those much milder concessions to the claim for Dominion status which the Viceroy was believed to be contemplating a month or two ago were not the kind: of modifications that the meeting regarded as tolerable. ■ ,

More clearly than by its resolution the spirit of the Calcutta meeting is revealed,by the drift of the speeches.

Speakers declared that tho Europeans wore sick to death of the weak Government, and wanted tho, latter to' know it. Europeans were not going to have any nonsense with regard to. the Suture government of the country.

The weakness attributed to the Government has two faces—the weakness implied in the demand of the resolution for firm treatment of the agitators and the weakness displayed in the rumoured intention to run away from the Simon Report. On the first of these points it is almost impossible for an outsider to form an opinion. At the outset of Mr. •Gandhi's salt campaign the Governiment was blamed for not arresting him promptly, and the amount of rope that was, given to him in the Province of Bombay was obviously inconsistent wiln the short shrift given to less important offenders in other Provinces. Yet there was much to be said for allowing his great march to the sea to have a chance of fizzling before interfering, and when the Viceroy expresses the opinion that tne weakness which this policy of "wait and see" permitted Mr. Gandhi to reveal considerably eased the shock of his arrest, even the most omniscient of arm-chair critics may hesitate to pronounce the policy. There have, of course, been occasions on which the authorities have been attacked from the exactly opposite standpoint. The three hours' battle in Bombay; on the 21st June betweeri the police and an illegal assembly of Nationalist volunteers, which had attracted a crowd of 15,000, 13 an example. The dilemma in which thf authorities are placed on these occasions is well illustrated by lhe adverse comments of a special correspondent of the "Observer" on this incident. After saying that by their-violent dispersal of the crowd the police had given the Congress j party many recruits, he continued:—■ ■

However neeessnry it is to maintain the Government's authority, it ia generally felt hotv, even by those who formerly opposed *th.ese processions being held, that it ia wholly undesirable to repeat last Saturday's performance. It is a choice between two evils, arid it seems' that tlie lesser evil would be to tolerate processions so long as they actually do not result in any violence towards peaceful citizens, although such toleration must produco the impression that the Government are afraid to act against them.

On the showing of this very candid critic the authorities are between the devil and the deep sea when they factsuch a gathering. They must either display a firmness which cannot be ("felSiguisfaed from yiofcawej, or a

tolerance which appears weak and timid. If praise is not to be won along either of the alternative courses, we can at least be sparing with our censure. Our cabled report of the "Battle of the Maidan," as the conflict we have mentioned is sometimes called from the name of the Esplanade near which it took place, concluded with "a very gloomy diagnosis of the economic condition of Bombay. Trade in Bombay.is completely at a standstill, we were told, causing dismay to many Indian merchants who countenanced the Congress campaign and calculated on making a. profit from tho boycott of British goods. European and Indian business interests, while averse to a declaration of martial law, aro urging the necessity for the reassertion of authority. . This message suggested that the boomerang effect of the trade boycott on the Indian supporters of the Congress campaign might lead to its relaxation, but after the lapse of two months the vanity of hope is proved by yesterday's message:—

. There is growing uneasiness in commercial circles at the prolongation of picketing ' and the boycott-activities. Koports ' from Bombay, Cawppore, Delhi, Araritsar, and other, important trading points indicated clearly that tho situation has become worse, leading commercial men to express the gravest apprehension concerning the condition of trade a few months hence, and demand the Government to end the impasse.

Bombay, it is to be noted, is at lhe top of the list. It was in; the Province of Bombay that Mr. Gandhi opened his campaign, and the City of Bombay seems to have had more than its full share of trouble ever since. On the 20th July a Simla correspondent of the "Observer" reported:— !' i .

The economic disaster resulting from the civil disobedience campaign is so overwhelming on the Bombay side that thero is everywhere a disposition to catch at straws. ;

This disposition, the "Observer's" correspondent pointed out ? r was unofficial, and did" not represent • the British majority in the Services who were necessarily silent.

The unofficial community is, he wrote, the trading community. Its members frankly admit that they are governed by economic considerations and cannot afford to take longer, views, although they realise that surrenders noSy for immediate pocket considerations may produce a chaotic harvest later. '

Under less severe pressure the Calcutta meeting showed no disposition to take.short views or to clutch at straws, but it is not easy to see how picketing and boycotting, carried on without resort to violence, could be suppressed, even By a much larger force than the Viceroy has at his disposal. ' ' ■'