The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 1930. THE INDIA REPORT

Southland Times, Issue 21118, 25 June 1930, Page 4

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 1930. THE INDIA REPORT

Out of the mass of words comprising the summary of the Simon Commission’s report have come proposals which one London newspaper rightly judges to sound the death-knell of self-government for India. The first volume of the report prepared the public for findings of a decidedly conservative nature, and the expectations it inspired have been fulfilled. Briefly the commission has devoted itself to the suggestion that the dyarchic scheme introduced by the MontaguChelmsford reforms should be discarded, and a new framework designed, but it declines y to make any material changes in the essential details of government, and leaves the authority of the British official practically unaltered. The dyarchic scheme has been a failure, but its weaknesses have been exploited by the discontented elements in India, and probably they have been made to appear much worse than they actually are. This explanation, however, is not enough to get rid of the awkward fact that the scheme has failed and shows no promise of facilitating the development of skill in government among the Indians. In the place of this scheme, so far as the central Government is concerned, is a federation, excluding Burma, and offering an invitation to the native states to 'participate when they feel inclined to take the step. Through this federation it is hoped to develop a central unit of government, representative of the provinces, which will always be present as the germ of an All-India Government. Thus the Indian is offered an attractive looking goal, but he is not likely to be very much impressed by it unless he can be sure that his way to it has been made more rapid. There are some suggestions for the extension of the franchise to permit about 20 per cent, of the population to participate in the government as electors, but their effective power extends practically no further than it does to-day and on this point the agitators are likely to seize as evidence of the intention of the commission to grant nothing of immediate practical value to the- Indians. It will be useless telling them that if there had been an enthusiastic effort to make the dyarchic system work the chances of an extension of the native authority in the machinery of government would have been greatly increased, because the All-India Congress leaders will use the report itself as the evidence of the determination to cheat their aims. Actually the terms of the report will come as no surprise to those who have followed the course of events in India, though, perhaps, the firmness with which the Government is advised to proceed cautiously may occasion some unexpected satisfaction, The agitators, non-violent and violent, -have themselves to blame for the conservative nature of the commission’s recommendations, but they cannot be expected to acknowledge that. Some disturbances can be expected, and it is fairly obvious that the commission is of the opinion that the further Indianization of the army should be halted at this stage. There is the distinct hint that the strength of the armed

forces should not be permitted to decline, and this advice is based on the assumption that the internal situation is likely to be troublesome, while the North-West Frontier will continue to be a danger zone while Russia threatens action on the far side of Afghanistan. The detachment of Burma again is a wise move. Burma is not properly a province of India. Its people are different and its problems are distinct. The government of Burma should be independent of In'dia, and it is to be hoped that the MacDonald Government will see the wisdom of this recommendation which will draw Burma out of the maelstrom of Indian politics. A federal scheme will make this possible, and necessary. Under the federal scheme the independent native states will have an opportunity to co-operate, but there does not appear to be much hope at present for their inclusion in the federation, because the independent princes will not care to put restrictions on the rights they now enjoy. Circumstances may make them change their views. As the masses become more insistent in their demands for a voice in the government of the native states the princes will be more inclined to look to the federal organism as a protection,, and then the development of the All-Indian Central Government will make rapid strides. In the meantime the report promises brilliant things for the future, and proposes a magnificent edifice, but it offers practically nothing for the solution of present-day problems, and it remains to be seen whether the MacDonald Government will be wise enough to take the sound advice implied by the report as well as by the direct suggestions made in it.