ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20599, 25 June 1930, Page 11

ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS.

PROVINCIAL COUNCILS. INCLUSION OF WOMEN. • EXTENDED FRANCHISE PLAN. RETENTION OF BRITISH ARMY. By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright. British Wireless. RUGBY, June 23. Tho report upon India discusses the methods for facilitating tho inclusion of women in Provincial Councils and of ensuring that tho representation of great landowners shall bo as great as that now guaranteed to them and proposes machinery by which the Provincial Legislatures, under proper safeguards, should have power to modify their exact structure. Tho franchise plan involves increasing the number of voters from tho existing 2.8 per cent, of the population to 10 per cent., which would represent 20 per cent, of the adult population. The commissioners also desire to increaso the present ratio of women to moil voters. Within the general plan there will be scope for variation according to the provincial needs and circumstances and the commissioners emphasise that the change involved is very great and far reaching.

Vital Central Administration. It has been necessary to combino with the new plan in tho provincial sphere, restrictions and qualifications, under which tho full force of majority rulo is limited by tho power of intervention vested in the Governor, for such purposes as tho protection of minorities and tho preservation of order. ( In so intervening the Governor will he acting under the superintendence of the Governor-General, for it is on tho strength of tho central administration that the peace and safety of India ultimately depend. The commissioners do not think, however, that tho British Parliamentary system, with an executive representing a single party and depending from day to day on tho vote of tho majority of directly-elected representatives, is likely to be tho model according to which responsible government at the centre for India will bo evolved. What is needed is a • central organ which can at once take up tho work of British India, so far as this does not devolve on the provinces, but which at tho same time is capable of expansion into a body representative of all lndi> in the wider sense. Tho only means which are practicable in securing tho end of federation involve a substantial change in the present constitution of the Central Legislature. "It appears to us that this body must bo composed henceforward on a strictly federal basis. It should be tho units of ultimate federation, rather than popular constituencies, that should bo represented in it." Proposed New Parliament. In Part IV. of the report these modifications in the Central Legislature are fully dealt with. Briefly, it is proposed that a Federal Assembly, with a fixed life of five years, should supersede the Legislative Assembly; that the membeis should be mainly chosen by tho Provincial Councils; that the number of members, now 145, be extended to from 250 to 280, representing approximately, one member to 1,000,000 inhabitants; that there should be an official clement comprising members of tho GovernorGeneral's Council, and not more than twelve other nominated officials. Tho commissioners further propose that the Council of State should continue with its existing functions, and that the existing legislative and financial powers of the two chambers should remain, but that additional functions be performed by the Assembly in the sphere of finance. The range of duties of the Central Legislature will probably vary as the constitution develops. " While the immediate changes are not great, there are future possibilities which may be far reaching, the report states. Discussing the Central Executive the report says that a dyarchy at the centre is quito impossible. Unity in the Central Executive must be preserved at' all costs. Again tho Governor-General must continue, not only as the representative of the King-Emperor in all formal and ceremonial matters, but as tho active head of the Government, with responsibility for selecting and appointing members of his Cabinet. The Commander-in-Chief should not be a member. Fundamentals of Government. Tho British Parliament cannot now surrender all responsibility for future modifications in structure of tho Central Government of India, but tho commissioners desiro to secure the rigidity of the statutory structure, allowing tho Indian constitution room to grow and develop. Experience shows that federation lias generally come about some time after tho federating units have become politically selfcontrolled. India, which presents so many complications on other grounds, is also unique in this that the Central Government is being evolved at tho same time as the provinces are growing to their full stature. The last principle which tho commission lays down is tho paramount necessity of securing that, .throughout the period during which'lndia is progressing on the road to complete sclf-govornmcnt, there must be full provision mado for tho maintenance and efficiency of the fundamentals of government. There are grave dangers in tho situation of India that must bo provided for. Army Must Hold the Frontier. Tho report says it is an absolute condition for tho development of self-govern-ment in India that the gateway of the North-West should be safely held. The army of India must bo strong enough for its task. For many years tho presence of British troops and British officers iu Indian iegiments will bo essential. The dangor of disorder in India is ever present. Ihcie arc inflammable elements in tho population and jealousy and ill-feeling between important communities which, from time to time, cause riots and disturbances. Tho problem involved in internal security is not, howover, a matter only of the preservation of law and order —the very existence of tho population depends on tho efficiency of tho administrative macliine.