LITTLE CHANGE

Hawera Star, Volume L, 6 August 1930, Page 9

LITTLE CHANGE

SITUATION IN INDIA SEVERAL PROVINCES QUIET LAWLESSNESS IN OTHERS. (British Official Wireless.) Received 2 p.m., 10-day. RUGBY, August 5. The Government of India's appreciation of the situation up to mst baturdav 'states that, .subject io the comments given below, there lias been no change during the week and that the improvement manifested during the past few weeks lias been maintained. In Waziriston the settlement with the various Mailsud sections is proceeding very satisfactorily, while on the northern border and in the- Peshawar district- the situation remained somewhat obscure throughout the week, but there has been no overt act of hostility. There is no change in the situation in liannu City. Jn the North-West Frontier Provmctthe process of disarming the disaffected portion in the rural area continued throughout the week. During the week it has been necessary to apply the prevention of intimidation ordinance to the Central Provinces, where picketing has become more, intensive and methods more forcible. The unlawful instigation ordinance, which makes penal any instigation to the non-payment of land revenue and other dues, has been applied to the United Provinces, where Congress propaganda, 'has been carried on in some villages. The breach of the forest laws appears to be extending in the Central Provinces and in the Bombay Presidency, and in some places it nas been accompanied by wilful damage, to standing trees. The picketing of schools and colleges continues in some towns and in Calcutta has necessitated the successive postponement of certain law examinations. Generally, however, this part of the Congress programme does not appear to be achieving any considerable success.

The position in Gujerat continues to improve. More village officers have withdrawn their resignations and in several districts the collection of land revenue is proceeding better than was expected. The economic position in Bombay City is deteriorating. On August- I six mills closed down, involving. 13,000 operatives, and it is anticipated that other mills will close in the early future owing to inability to finance further production. The ecouomic effects of the civil disobedience movement are not- confined to Bombay, although they perhaps are most pronounced m that city., In Amritsar, which is an important centre, the piece-goods trade ban on foreign goods resulted in the lockingup of a very large amount of capital, with the inevitable consequences that trade finance has been seriously effected and that the movement of Indianmade goods is impeded. It is reported that the sales of piece-goods dropped in the month of June from- an average of 25 to 2 lakhs. The Madras Government reports that in several places large numbers of weavers have been thrown out of employment owing to the civil disobedience movement, but the operation of economic force may be expected to encourage the increasing opposition to the continuance of the movement. Subject to the above remarks the position in the various provinces is as stated in last week’s appreciation.