Evening Post. THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 1932. "INDEPENDENCE DAY" IN INDIA

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 11, 14 January 1932, Page 10

Evening Post. THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 1932. "INDEPENDENCE DAY" IN INDIA

The saying of Nubar Pasha that the two supreme needs of Egypt are water and justice has its application to India also. In both countries the ■ blessings of British rule will stand ' the test supplied by both these points, and, so far as India is concerned, both points are illustrated in our reports from Calcutta and Delhi today. The opening by the Viceroy yesterday of what is described as "the world's largest irrigation system" and the result of "one'of the greatest feats of British' engineering" is' an event which ought to excite the pride of Britain and the gratitude of India. According to the excement report supplied by Official Wireless the Lloyd Barrage in Sukkur will convert "a sun-parched area as large as England" in a practically rainless province into agricultural land. The barrage is several miles long; it has several arches, each of which is 90 feet wide, and it has taken eight years to construct. ,

The .waters of the river flowing from the Himalayas to the sea will be harnessed to supply the rich soil of the province by 7000 miles of canals, some of them wider than tho Suez Canal, with private channels serving 35,000 miles. The scheme makes possible tho cultivation of 6,000,000 acres, and the estimated value of the crops produced from this area will approach £30,000,000. The coat of the scheme is approximately £15,000,000.

We are also told that the work was "mooted nearly a century ago after the Sind district had been conquered by British troops." It was by the Battle of Meannee, described as.'"one-of.the most amazing in the history of "the British Array," and that of Hyderabad a few weeks later, that Sir Charles Napier effected this conquest in 1843, and in recognition of the fact that he had proceeded without authority he announced the result in the punning confession, "Peccavi" (I have sinned). The benefits of that dubious exploit have now been consummated by a peace-1 ful victory which will be of untold benefit to India and draw from 6,000,000 acres of desert £30,000,000 worth of crops.

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.

Even Mr. Gandhi, if he»were as just as he is pious, should be able to recognise in such works as these some small set-off to the sins of Britain's "Satanic" rule, and thankful to proclaim it. But no such words will pass his Jips to giye Britain fair play and calm the passions of his countrymen, and it is highly probable that no such thoughts will enter his mind. Mr. Gandhi's prophecy that there would be "hell in India" after his return.has been repudiated, but there has been no contradiction of the statement which he was reported to have made to .a mass meeting in Bombay thai .'

he would, not flinch at sacrificing a million lives ; for India's liberty,

and that the country must be "ready to fight"; and there is really not much to choose between the two. It is a happy coincidence that the same Viceroy, who has taken a firm .stand against this Napoleonic Mahatma who is prepared to sacrifice a million lives in the pursuit of his ideal, and in so doing would certainly make India very like hell, was conspicuously associated yesterday with the policy by which Britain is making another huge area of the country a little less unlike paradise. When tKe appointment of Lord Willingdon to the Viceroyalty of India was announced about a year ago his acceptance of the position was in itself proof that he had the courage required for an exceedingly difficult and dangerous task, and the excellent record established during his ten or eleven years of service as Governor first of Bombay and then of Madras had testified to his possession of most of the other qualities needed. The only objection taken to the appointment was inspired by the fear that the would be too severe for a man of sixty-three who had lately been troubled by illhealth. The Empire rejoices to know that these handicaps have not prevented Lord Willingdon from displaying all the resolution and the energy that the occasion required and from striking a blow which has taken the forces of disorder by surprise and, temporarily at any rate, crippled their activities. We owe. it to the Viceroy that the Old Year closed and the New Year opened with hopes for the restoration of order in India to which the hatred and the violence on the one side and the tendency to compromise on the other had long sin6e given little encouragement. In the last days of December the Working Committee of Congress was in daily session at Bombay maturing its plans but deferring its final decision, "pending anticipated talks between the Viceroy and Mr. Gandhi." On the 28th Mr. Gandhi landed at Bombay, arid drove in triumph to the Congress headquarters; and either on that or the following day lie made the speech already quoled in which he spoke of "sacrificing a million

lives" and urged his countrymen to be "ready to fight." On the 29th in a speech addressed to the European Association at Calcutta Lord Willingdon uttered a stern warning which really sounded like business.

Any attempt, he said, by any organisation to impede the constitutional programme, whether a no-rent arid norevenue campaign, a boycott, or the defiance of the law, would be utterly crushed. A day or two later Mr. Gandhi sent the Viceroy a telegram announcing a renewal of his civil disobedience campaign, but graciously suspending it till he heard whether the Viceroy would "consider it worth while to see him." The Viceroy's reply was to arrest Mr. Gandhi and the Presi- , dent of Congress in the early hours ' of the 4th January and to send them to Yeravda Gaol.

This dramatic move was followed by an imposing display of force, in which the most striking incident was the march of a thousand British naval and military and Indian forces through Chittagong, a Bengal city which is a hotbed of sedition. New Ordinances and the arrests of other Congress leaders followed in quick succession. Telegraphing on the 6th January the "Times" Delhi correspondent said:—

The strength and rapidity of the successive Government attacks have seemingly stunned the Indian Congress supporters, but it is too soon to gauge the general effect on India. Clearly the storm may break anywhere at any moment. The real test may come in a clay or two. •

The day or two have been now extended to a week, but the success achieved by the bold initiative of the Government has received no serious check. The celebration of "Independence Day" was reported yesterday to have been a fizzle,.and Congress is still apparently without a leader or a policy, but some revival pf illegal activities in Calcutta and Bombay is mentioned to-day. It may still be a very long time before the victory of law and order is assured, but the initial successes present a very encouraging I contrast to the humiliation and insecurity of the previous two years. And while the Viceroy manfully does his duty the British Government is equally anxious to push on the work of reform by expediting the dispatch of the British members of the Round Table Conference to confer with the authorities in India.