AGREEMENT IN INDIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20827, 20 March 1931, Page 11

AGREEMENT IN INDIA.

MR. CHURCHILL CYNICAL.

NO FAITH IN GANDHI.

LORD BURNHAM'S CRITICISM.

By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright.

(Received March 19, 7.45 p.m.) LONDON, March 19.

A crowded meeting organised by the India Empire Society was held Inst even' ing in the Albert Hall, In the course of an address Mr. Winston Churchill asserted that it would never be possible to come to terms with the Indian Nationalist leader, Gandhi. Referring to the agreement reached between Gandhi and tho Viceroy, Lord Irwin, he said: "This surrender is a hideous act of self-immolation, which has astounded every nation in the world." Viscount Burnham, who was a membor of the Simon Commission, said the Irwin-Gandhi treaty must be regarded as a triumph for lawlessness and a wastes piece of casuistry.

DEBATE IN THE LORDS.

AN IMPROVED OUTLOO.K.

GOOD WORK OF VICEROY. British Wireless. ' RUGBY, March 18. In' a debate on the situation in India in the House of Lords, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Snnkey, reviewed the events which led up to tho Round Table Conference, the results of the conference, and their effect in India. Lord Sankey said tho delegates to the conference were noj> plenipotentiaries. It was their responsibility to examine tho facts and make suggestions. The Federal Structure Sub-committee's report, therefore, was purposely drafted so as to leave many questions open, but in his view there was no problem in India which was insoluble. It was perfectly possible to draft a federal' constitution that could be fair and just to everybody, and with precedents before them the combined wisdom of the East and the West could and would do so.

Earl Peel said he could not help feeling that during the last few months the Government had been too ready, he would not say to apologise for, to take a stand on Britain's position in India, which gave her rights and laid upon her duties and responsibilities. The Marquess of Reading, referring to the agreement between the Viceroy, Lord Irwin, and Gandhi, said conditions in India had very greatly improved from the moment when the agreement, which was brought abort by the Round Table Conference, was reached. The conference, therefore, had enabled peace to be declared in India. Lord Reading said the conference had definitely improved the outlook by remov. ing the -mistrust and suspicions which had previously given the Indian politicians concern. He paid a tribute to Lord Irwin's work and the. triumph of his agreement with Gandhi as an earnest of goodwill. ' The Secretary for the Colonies, Lord Passfield, in replying, said the Government was guided entirely by Lord Irwin, in whom it had the fullest confidence, and desired all parties to co-operate regarding India.

PICKETING LEGALISED.

DISQUIET IN LANCASHIRE. BOYCOTT OF BRITISH GOODS. British "Wireless". RUGBY. March 18. A statement issued to-day by the Cotton Spinners and Manufacturers' Association and the Federation of blaster Cotton, Spinners' Associations expresses disquiet at the provision in the recent agreement between the Viceroy of India and certain political leaders, by which picketing is to be regarded as a legal form of propaganda if peacefully carried out for economic and not political purposes. Although nominally directed against all foreign goods, the boycott has been ant>British rather than anti-foreign, and one of the worst features was the fact that it was supported by individuals who had ex-, tensive interests in the Indian cotton and textile industries and who were undoubtedly profiting by it.