THE REVOLUTION IN INDIA.

NZ Truth, 4 January 1908, Page 8

THE REVOLUTION IN INDIA.

AN INTERVIEW WITH MR. H, M. HYNDMAN. (By It. B. tfUTHERS.) When the fathers of the young per* sons who have lately been . writing .profound and weighty leading articles on the irresponsibility^ of Mx K'eir .Hat-die mete still m long clothes, Mfcr H> M. Hyndman was recognised as • aii authority on. Indian aißaira (says the "Clarion"). For more than thirty years he has made a. close study of the condition of the Indian people. His only fault .is that he knows too much, and he has a nasty habit of blurting out unpalatable truths that is distinctly not gentlemanly. "I gather from the Tory press and the Gutter Press that the unrest m India is due. entirely to the speeches of MrH-ardie. Do you think,'' l asked Mr Hyndman, "that this opinion is based on an inductive study of the facts, or is it an ' a priori' conception iVorn of the instinct that there, is truth m the saying, 'A drowning man catches at any straw which is likely to lift him on to the* back of the , camel ?' " "Pff !'.' said Mr Hyndman; which I took to mean "POLITICAL FOODLE." "Hardies visit and Hardies speeches: now," he .went on, "are mere coincidences' 'jfrhe causes of the unrest in ' Imd4a <m» irinioh further to fina. It really means .the beginning of the. end." "Tlieend ofwh'ati?" I asked. "The! end of. British vale. m India. ,Of course, I can't predict how 4ong ending .will take ; but lam convinced that/ what I say is true. During the last five years the change m the Indian people has been ' something' tremendous.' Those who are.not. m touch with what is going qn : ..cannot conceive the progress A that te vheing made." •'-' Progress— fcow ? " • "In the direction of a demand |or independence." "And to what do you . attribute -this stirring of dry bones ?" "To the •hopelessness of ever getting any substantial reforms from the British ; to the stimulation to self-reliance and independence given by the Japanese victories, over . Russia ; and to the JAPANESE INDUSTRIAL N r . TRIUMPHS. All over India missionaries are* abroad preaching 'Bande Mataram'— our country for ourselves. The* Swadeshi and the Swaraj movements are growing fast. British goods and European goods are being boycotted. Why should not Indians ■■ support Asiatic industries, and buy the produce of the Eastern Hemisphere rather than of the West ? Why should they trade with the people who arc draining their life blood from them ? That is how they are ■beginning to look at things. The whole country is. m movement/ • "What is the amount of our drain from India ?" "About •thirty-five million pound's per annum. That is taken clean out of the country. It is an export without an import to balance it." ' "Biit the Indians get m return the benefits of British Government, do they not?" ■ M "Yes ; if you consider it a benefit to be despotically, governed at> a cost five times greater than you could govern yourself, and by an alien race." "You think then the Indians are quite CAPABLE OF MANAGING their own aSairs ?" "Certainly ; and they , mean to do it. Two hundred thousand aliens can- . not- for ever dominate a nation of 300 millions of people, especially a people with a history like that of the Indians.'-^ "Would there be any danger of internecine warfare if the British left India ?" \ \. _ "If so, that is not our business. But the-, agitation for self-govern-ment conies > from both Mahommedan and Hindu. Of course, the Indian Government do their best to foster religious animosity, <as of late' m Eastern Bengal ; put I don't .think they will succeed. The new . aspirations will be too strong for them." "And do you think the Indians would really be glad if we left India ? What about Russia?" "Russia doesn't want a squeezed orange," said Mr Hyndmian. ."Russia doesn't want India. , Russia wants Persia and China, but not India." • "This movement for independencedo our people pretend it doesn't exist, or don't they know of it ?" "They ■ DON'T KiNOW MUCH ABOUT IT— as yet. The official classes are remote from the people. They don't know them. They don't mix with them, and they take little interest iii them. Remember what happened., m 1857. How miany of our people knew that a mutiny was m the air •? We found put afterwards that the rising had been organised. It was no sudden explosion. The Indians do not of course inform the official classes of all their plans. Some day :' "Someday^— what ? Will there foe more bloodshed ?" "I -shouldn't like to say that. I don't know. We cannot possibly hold India toy force against the -will of the people. When we find the situ- 1 ation imipossjible, we shall have to clear out as gracefully as we can. Years ago, if my policy had been followed, ' useful British influence might have lasted longer. If we had established the native rulers under the British hegemony and introduced needful reforms m a spirit of helpfulness, we should never haye witnessed this outburst of so-called 'sedition.' It is no use the press trying 1 to make <a. scapegoat or Hiardie or anyone else. The evil lies m our greedy and. .selfish methods of ruling the country. You can't inflame a whole people with resentment against a just and righteous government, No. This is* the beginning of the end. We have got %o /leave India. A/id . when our upper and middle classes have to find a substitute for the millions they are now draining out of India, . there will be economic trouble at home for somebody. It is all part of the great Socialist upheaval, this unrest m India; and it is our duty to ltelp forward the d.ay o£ emanci- • pation with all our strength. "-