MACDONALD'S APPEAL

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 22, 27 January 1931, Page 9

MACDONALD'S APPEAL

WOEK WELL BEGUN

LET GOVERNMENT CARRY ON

(British Official Wireless.) (Rteceived 27th January, 11 a.m.) RUGBY, 26th January. In the course of his address on the Indian Conference, the Primo Minister emphasised that the present position of the Indian problem was the result of evalution and had been reached step by step, each with its inevitable consequences of steps later on. He specially reminded. Mr. Winston Churchill, who was so critical of the present policy, that it was the sequel to statements made and stages reached when other Governments, of which Mr. Churchill had been a member, were in power. The Prime Minister paid a tribute to the Indian delegates who came to the Conference at grave inconvenience, loss, and risk to reputations. He said that the raw material of the Conference was the Simon Report, for which India owed a debt which in the future she would be better able to appreciate. "What they meant to do and what they had done was to agree in advance upon the principles which should be applied to Indian Government and made the foundation of any Constitution ultimately drafted. THE FIEST STAGE. Everything was provisional and the stability and success of the work done depended on how the structure as a whole was to be built. He believed most sincerely that the structure could be built. But the first stage was to remove Indian problems from the fieldof suspicion, to get the Indians to accept candour and goodwill and to get them to see exposed in all its naked weakness the policy of so-called "passive resistance" which was only a sort of oral cloak for lawlessness. At this moment, said the Prime Minister, Indian representatives are on the way home sworn champions of the work which has been done, convinced of our sincerity, advocates of the cessation of strife, and sworn to do their best to inaugurate a regime of goodwill and co-operation in finding solutions of the various problems which presented themselves in St. James's Palace. The Government was now cousidering how the work was to bo carried on. He had already spen tho Viceroy-elect, and,he hoped for the approach of the leaders of the other parties, since he felt that it would be" a great calamity if the admirable co-opera-tion between them, \ which was conducted on independent and nonpolitical lines during the Conference, should be broken in the further stages of the negotiations. REASON FOR SAFEGUARDS. Dealing with the work of the Conference the Prime Minister emphasised that the safeguards contained in the proposed Constitution were not the result of distrust and were not meant for use in ordinary times, but only in the event'of emergency. There were safeguards in tho background in every free State in the world. He asked the House to agree to the Government's pursuing tho problem in detail in consultation with representative Indians and constitutional experts here. If you wish to bind India to you by bonds of confidence and make her happy within your Empire and Commonwealth, concluded Mr. Mac Donald, if you wish to hear her praise you in gratitude and remain with you in pridte, then accept the. work which has been done by the Conference, and instruct the Government to proceed with it to a complete conclusion. / CONSERVATIVE ATTITUDE. Sir Samuel Hoare, one of the Conservative delegates at the Conference, again defined the Conservative attitude. "While they recognised the great change which had taken 'place in the East, there were certain solemn obligations which could not be abandoned. Indian defence still rested on Britain, foreign affairs and international obligations should be controlled by tho Crown, and in the interests of India no less than of Britain internal security and financial stability must be effectively safeguarded. The protection of minorities was also. a solemn obligation. Thero must be no unfair economic or commercial discrimination against British traders, and the rights of the services recruited by the Secretary of State must be observed. Whatever Constitution might emerge must have a sure foundation. If those legitimate demands were satisfied and if the Constitution for allIndia was framed with effective safeguards, if the system of Government had a reasonable chance of working, the Conservatives would not quibble over minor details. They were- entering on a new phase of Anglo-Indian relations, in which partnership must be made a moving principle and co-opera-tion the basis of action. SIR JOHN SIMON SPEAKS. Sir John Simon said that the Conference accomplished two great things. The Indian Princes had been brought into discussion not only with British statesmen, but with their compatriots in British India. That was a tremendous achievement. lie and his colleagues of the Statutory Commission had for two years carefully considered the recommendations, and had reached the conclusion, now generally accepted, that it was quite impossible to visualise a satisfactory Constitution for India, unless it brought India's Princes within the circle. FOUR CONCLUSIONS. Another great achievement was that the Conference had got rid, to a remarkable degree, of suspicion and misunderstanding. Nevertheless, they had only travelled a very small part of tho way to be covered before the Constitution could be framed and the four conclusions he reached were:—> (1) He rejoiced at tho success of tho Conference in securing tho adhesion of the Prince's to tho general idea of an All-India 'Federation. "(2) It was inevitable in the time available that the Conference had not

been able to produce a practical solution on so many very difficult and cardinal matters. (3) While recognising how much satisfaction the formula of responsibility with safeguards could give, he could not regard unformulated safeguards on vital matters as details. How the safeguards were to work was really the essence" of the scheme itself. Lastly, the good work of the Conference should be recognised as the beginning and not at all as the end. The debate is continuing.