BOYCOTTING BRITAIN

Southland Times, Issue 19480, 1 April 1922, Page 8

BOYCOTTING BRITAIN

TROUBLE IN INDIA AND EGYPT. SOME OUTSPOKEN OPINIONS. LONDON, 26th January. The Prime Minister, Mr Lloyd George, has sent out, on behalf of hie Cabinet colleagues and of the British people, a telegram of congratulation to the Prince of Wales on the great success of the Prince’s visit to India. This telegram is a remark* able document, in view of the fact that the visit of the Prince to India has been, from the official point of view, a deplorable failure and mistake. The main object of the visit was to revive in the people of India a feeling of loyalty to the British throne and to Britain's rule, which would check the campaign of disloyalty organised by Mr Gandhi and his followers for the self-government of India, and its separation from the British Empire. The text of Mr Lloyd George’s telegram is as follows: “My colleagues and I wish gratefully to express to your Royal Highness, on behalf of the British people, our warm appreciation of the spirit in which you have entered upon and are fulfilling your high undertaking, and our pleasure in the deep impression which you have made. From unofficial, no less than official, sources, in all parts of India which you have visited, convincing tributes have reached us of the respect and affection which you have inspired. “We know that you have reached the real heart of India, and that there, as everywhere, your personalty will have an unfading memory. Your fortunes and your happiness are so .dear to every nation of the Empire'that India touches us all when she shows her heart to you. Every incident of your progress is watched with interest here. We rejoice in the splendid hospitality of the Indian princes, in the enthusiasm df Indians of every class, in the eager greeting of Indian children, in every spontaneous tribute which you receive, and we look forward more keenly than ever before to the welcome home which we shall give you from yet another great Imperial mission successfully discharged.” The following extracts published in the “Morning Post” from a private letter written to a friend in England by an official holding a responsible position in India, provide a contrast with the official telegram, a contrast all the more striking when it is remembered that the “Morning Post” is the most conservative newspaper in England, and is unwavering in its loyalty Io the British throne, and to-the established order of things in*the British Empire. “You will have seen a great deal in the newspapers about the Prince’s visit to India, and I think it is just as well that you should know the real facts. The whole idea of bringing the Prince to India was to obtain a declaration, or at least a show of loyalty to the British Empire from the

people of India. It was. in fact, a challenge to the disloyal party. That challenge has been taken up, and I am bound to say that the disloyal party has won all along the line. The visit has been a ghastly failure, and how the Viceroy, Lord Read ing, with the object lesson of the Duke of Connaught’s recent visit in front of hir.i. could possibly have recommended that the Prince should come to India, I do not know. Far from evoking any loyalty, the visit has focussed disloyalty eyerywhere, and has given it a great fillip. In the native States, where there is absolute autocratic rule, the receptions to the Prince have been splendid. But in British India the arrival of the Prince has been heralded in every town by outbreaks, arrests, disloyal processions, and finally, on the actual day of arrival, by a ‘general mourning,’ strike, or hartal, as it is called in India. This means that even' shop in the Indian quarters was closed, that none would work, and that the city looked utterly deserted. In the European quarters there was a brave show of flags, decorations, and such numbers of loyalists as could be assembled, but it was not to evoke loyal sentiments from Europeans or Anglo-Indians that the Prince came to India. “At the time of writing the Prince is in Calcutta, and I must admit that he has been getting a good reception during the past, few days, but previous to his arrival there were thousands of arrests, and all the leaders of the Indian extremist party are in gaol. Think of how such measures must alienate Indian feeling from the Prince, and the British Empire! The political situation in India is very serious. The political reforms recently granted have not been accepted by the extremists, and the latter have carried the crowd with them. Open sedition is being preached everywhere, and Gandhi issues decrees as if he were the ruler of the country, .laying down what is, or is not, to be done.” The problem of how India is to be governed under British rule is a very difficult one. Some measure of self-govern-ment must be given to the people of India, but that in itself will not provide a solution of the problem. There are a dozen different races in India, some of whom are bitterly antagonistic to one another. There are also a number of independent States, ruled by powerful chiefs. None of these chiefs would surrender their powers to an elective Indian Dominion Parliament, and no Indian Dominion Government culd keep the hetrogeneous elements in the rest of India in order. It is possible a solution may be found in an Indian federation of self-governing States, with a strong central British Government, but there would be grave difficulties in the way of such a solution, for even if the independent States accepted it the present leaders of the disloyalists would not. In Egypt there is a similar revolt against British rule, and a similar demand for selfgovernment and separation from the British Empire. The policy of deporting the leaders of this agitation, which has been adopted by the British administration in Egypt, can only give strength to the revolt. The Egyptian delegation which came to England to consult, with the British Government on the question of reforms in the method of governing the country, and returned dissatisfied with the British offer, has issued a manifesto calling on the Egyptians to follow the example of their comrades in India, and boycott everything British. The chief recommendarioris of this manifesto, which explains how the boycott is to be carried out, are as follows:- - Egyptians must withdraw all deposits from British banks, and deposit them with the native bank for a fixed period; they must also take capital shares in the native bank in order to increase its capital. Egyptian merchants are urged to advise foreign agents not to ship merchandise in British holds. No Egyptian must travel in a British ship. Egyptians must refuse to unload British ships or take such goods to customs offices or give coal. No Egyptian must insure with a British company, and all existing British policies must be renewed elsewhere. British merchants and goods must be absolutely boycotted. Reasonable delay is allowed Egyptians to clear British stocks, viz., six months for manufactured articles, and building materials, and three months for groceries. All Egyptian and foreign merchants are ordered not to retail British goods, otherwise they will be boycotted. A special commission will be formed to advise on the sources of importation other than British; the commission will publish circulars regularly advising the nature of the goods, and the source supplied. The commission will have connection with foreign non-British chambers of commerce, and will encourage them to have commercial and industrial exhibitions in Egypt. . Side by side with the boycott, there is be a policy of non-co-operation, with the British in Egypt. Every Egyptian is to cease all social intercourse with the British. No Egyptian is to serve an Englishman or to consult an English doctor. No Egyptian politician is to form a Ministry until British policy changes. Egyptian lawyers must endeavour to settle matters

out of court instead of going before a British magistrate,.and the population must always address matters to native officials. The Egyptian Doctors’ Association has begun the boycott, by notifying all pharmacies that they will not patronise any pharmacist who continues to retail British chemicals, and asking the pharmacists to consult with the association regarding other sources of supply. The manifesto concludes with au appeal for its publication in all mosques, churches, representative institutions, and villages in Egypt. Special committees will be formed in Cairo and the provinces for the full application of the boycott. The reply of the British Administration in Egypt to this manifesto has been to arrest the eight members of the Egyptian delegation who signed it, and to suspend the publication of newspapers which published it. But no country can be governed for any length of time by such methods, which are so much out of harmony with British sentiment. It is inevitable that some concessions in the direction of self-government will have to be made to the people of Egypt in the near future.—Melbourne Age Correspondent.