EXPERIMENTAL GOVERNMENT IN INDIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14294, 14 February 1910, Page 4

EXPERIMENTAL GOVERNMENT IN INDIA.

The latest news from India is not of a character calculated to allay the uneasiness which recent events in that country have created in the minds of the' great majority of Anglo-Indians. The' release of the leading agitators who were some time ago convicted of sedition,* and r deported as being-dan-gerous to; the peace* and good government of India, is a- dangerous act of pjemepcy• in the present disturbed condition vof ' that country. That it will-be: interpreted as a concession to ; the National party, ' v whose ultimate aim is the total elimination of the, British i official and the establishment of native rule in India, is not open to- doubt; ■ That it will encourage them in the prosecution of their revolutionary propaganda " seems equally certain. The repatriated agitutors ? were received on their arrival in; Calcutta tby an enthusiastic crowd of - "sympathisers, ■ who• marched in profession f singing their " patriotic" songs. y, -That fact : alone is a significant indication of the attitude of the native -; mind in. reference ,to - the action of the Government. The decision jof > the authorities appears to have . been inspired' by an , v outburst of /gratitude of the support accorded by i a section of the natives in the passing of the Press Act, and to the improved condition .. of the . country. W& can' well'believe that it was carefully considered, and that all its consequences were weighed ; and pondered. The responsibility for so grave act rests entirely with .the. Indian Government, ; and we earnestly ; trust that their magnanimity will not turn out to have been misplaced. Nevertheless '<«; it Cis an : experiment in clemency ; which, in the > opinion of f those/who, have followed the nationalist niovement in; India,; is. fraught with ganger. ,: ■ "