MRS BESANT'S VISIT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2840, 19 August 1908, Page 14

MRS BESANT'S VISIT.

A WOMAN'S APPRECIATION OF A

WOMAN.

Mrs Besant ia one of the most powerful personalities of the present day. Her fame is world-wide, and her visit to Dunedin, or any other place, is not merely of looal importance in connection with the

Tiheosophical Society, with which her name ie bo -intimately connected, but it brings üb™ into touch with the great questions of Imperial Indian politics, and those worldwide movements for the betterment of mankind to which the greatest men and women delight to devote their energies.

Mrs Besant .received a lady representative of this paper very graciously, and answered all quostione in a simple, straight-forward manner, but did not volunteer any special information. These questions largely took the form of inquiries concerning her work in India, the present condition of that country in relation to the recent political agitation, Mrs Be6ant's own attitude towards Christianity, and a little information concerning the Theosophieal Society,

The following were the chief questions : —

What is your opinion concerning the difficulties in India at- the present time. Are they religious or political?

"Both. They are chiefly the outcome of education, which is now advancing at a great rate in many different directions, and on many different lines. English ideals naturally produce tho desire for English liberty, freedom of contract, some measure of representation, and other acknowledged righle of citizenship. 'Ifitis 50 good for you. it is also good for us ' is the cry. Great discontent has risen from the shutting out of native-born Indians from the best, mept honourable, and most lucrative offices of the. State; but the dissatisfaction is not really very wid>espread, and there is no real or deep-rooted desire to throw off the English rule. The chief difficulty ri=<«i with the young students, etc. They are naturally enthusiastic, and in-patient of delay ; evolution is tco «low for them ; their reading and study all point to the valuo of political freedom, and they do their best to get it. But it i§ not only theee boys who are in fault, acting on their own initiative; they are often used as cat's pawe by older men, who themselves remain in the background, incite them to miaphief. and then retire, leaving t.'ie young ones to pay the price and pose as martyrs"

Should they be put down with a hii<h hand, or ie i! best to leave them to time?

"When it comes to throwing bombs, etc., the mischief must be put down with the strong hand of authority. In India there is a general feeling of sympathy with law and order ; as a rule the people willingly agree to any action for the good of all ; at the same tirrie they should have their reasonable requests attendee! to, and the causes of their complaint and unrest carefully inquired into, and if possible removed. Much of the unrest, as already remarked, is caused! by the shutting out of really fine intellectual natives from any share in. the government of their own country, In times past England has gained by playing off one native State against another, but ac education and knowledge increases this plan becomes increasingly dangerous and U£eleee. The time has now come when jingland must work with the people, and not against them, by giving the best offlcss to the best men, irrespective of race or colour, and thus by degrees make India a je-lf-governinpc State, under the CrownIn the meantitne people should not be branded 1 as seditioup simply because they are in a hurry to show their loyalty to their own country. England would be the first to admire the struggle for" freedom if it took place in any other country She must put herself in the position of the head of the movement, and herself bestow upon the natives a larger measure of fre-J-dom." What about r-eprejsentation ? "There ia no representation, and no political franchise. In every State there ie a small Legislative Council, but it is co managed that there- is always, a majority of officials, etc, on the side of tfye Government, so its reformatory action ia practically nil. T.bere is no real i-epre-sentation. And thiis is one of the greatest causes of discontent, as political franchise is so thoroughly admired and advocated in all British literature." You do not, then, believe in a " bensvoleni despotism" for India? "The time for it has passed. Even tre British Resident wr^q was Olioe -so helpful JSi t&4 e&Uvfi frinoes i§ xioxil o.ut of date;

he is sometimes a helper, but more often a tyrannous master. The officers of the Indian Civil Service a.re greatly to be admired, and their administru.'tion of justice is generally very fair, especially as between British and British, Indian and Indian ; but when it comes to any conflict between Briton and Indian, their justice is not so conspioucfjjs. There is another thing: the class of men sent into the Indian service is not now what it used to be. Many of the new men are not gentlemen. They do not behave with courtesy and consideration, and a high-caste Hindu i.s a very polished gentleman, and & great stickler for good manners. He must respect the men he is called upon to obey, or he will not obey them."

What was the effect of Lord Ourzon'a character and government on the natives?' I gather that you consider Lord Minto a better man for the post.

" Lord Curzon, though a very clever and brilliant man, was never in sympathy with the natives. All the present difficulties may be traced to hi.c mistaken and ccntemptuous attitude. He made the colour line deeper and the education more difficult and expensive. The natives felt that he was always trying to put them down and keep them down. Lord Minto is a kindlier and more sympathetic man, though perhaps not so clever. He shows his feelings for the people in a thousand ways, especially in affording facilities for a better and cKeaper education with leiss clasa distinction."

Can the East and West ever be really united in spirit? Would ifc be possible to give self-government to ihe many different races — would they combine as one whole? "It would be difficult, but, I believe, not impossible, and it must be done by degrees if England would do her duty and emancipate the nation that she has taken under her charge."

Can you bell me something of missionary efforts in India? Are they beginning to reaoh the mass of the people?

"No ; they scarcely touch the higher caste. Their result so far has been largely jnaterialistio; the people who follow the miseionarieg are not really converted ; they go for the loaves and fishes. They are taken from the very lowest castes, and are desoendants from the old races who inhabit sd the peninsula before the present Ayrian races came into possession, and have always been despised andi ill-treated by their conquerore. Yet the missionaries do a great educational work, though not always on the best lines. And the medical missionaries do splendid work."

Will you tell me something of the position of woman in India, especially of the child widows of which we hear so much?

"As a rule women are happy and reenected, and a widow who is a widow indeed is regarded aJmost as a saint. But tlio child marriages are a great eviL All classes of the Indians themselves are now trying- to mitigate this abuse. As a rule th? children, are betrothed when little more than infante, and the marriage is consummated when the bride is about 14, the biidegroom being six or eight years older. If the prospective bridegroom dies before that tinle, the child-wife is not allowed to marry. This is a great hardship, and produocs much evil. We are trying in our sohooh, where we have 900 boys, to mitigate this evil by inducing the fathers to pledge themselves not to betroth the boys until they have finished their collego course. In this we are only following tho teaching of the famous old philosopher !Manu, who taught that the student should always be celibate. This is the true solution of the difficulty, as it is the parents whj make the child marriages- The missionaries might help) us by talcing the baine course in their schools, but they do not. In regard to the cruelties sometimes practised on child-wives, I do not say that they never happen, but they are very much the exception, not the rule, and you know that there are brutes in every country and every part of the world, even in favoured England, It would be as just to judge the majority of English from these as the majority of the Indians from the crimes of a few inhuman wretojies whom all good men contemn. Women are, as a rule, respected and well treated. Even the unfortunate Temple Slavee, of whom you hear so much are better off, more respected and cherished, than persons of a similar class f England. Do not think from this that condone or excuse yioe — faT otherwise; but what I tell you is the simple truthThese crimes are the exoeption, not the rule."

Speaking- of esoteric religion, Mrsßesant g&ich ' You could not have one. religion for the peasant and the philosopher. Tlie philosopher must have something $eeper. Many educated men had "turned atray ftom Christianity for the reason that it hacj nothing *$ s i m i^en^ iyhjcjx gej $he£

wants. As a matter of fact all that they could ask" for was there: but it had been lost sight of." She also spoke very earnestly of the force and efficacy of prayer, and the power of -thought as a natural force no more wonderful than wireless telega-aph-y, and meet potent in its effects when rightly understood and directed.

In speaking- from the Indian standpoint on the " White Australian " policy, Mrs Besant said: "I think en general prin-' oiples tihat the nations ought to draw together, and not shut eaoh other out. The correlative to a .White Australia is a coloured India and China. Do you know that when the South African policy of registration of coloured aliens was adopted there was some talk in India of introducing-, through the native representatives in the Legislative Council, a bill for the exclusion of white men from the country? And if 300 million people once get that idea into tttieir heads they are likely to prove obstinately troublesome."

I found Mrs Besa-nt very easy to interview. She received me very graciously, seated in a high chair and dressed in the cream-coloured flowing robe which seems quite a part of her personality. Her fine face was keen and alert, and full of interest. She entered heartily into every subject, that was started, and spoke clearly and well, without a moment's Hesitation, wiih ease and dignity, and not too quickly. She responded mentally to every suggestion, and as my subject was India, she became very animated and spoke freely. Th-p. time allotted — half an hour — passed all too quickly, but co busy a woman could not be expected' to give more, and "certainly w© made the most of it.