BARODA’S RULER.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 15, 30 December 1911, Page 2

BARODA’S RULER.

A POWERFUL AND POPULAR L’O'l ENTATB. ENLIGHTENMENT AND PROGRESSIVE. Tlia inopportune incident which has to some extent marrd the n mm con produced by the Imperial Durbar is doulily unfortunate because of the character and status of the personage chiefly concerned. it Uo Gaekwar of Baroda is one of the most powerful of the native rulers of India and a prince of the highest rank, tracing his descent back to the very foundation of the Mahratta empho. And while his prestige and authority stand exceptionally high among the natives, ho has generally been regarded as one o L the most enlightened and progressive of all these vassal potentates. “ft needs iut a few minutes, ’ vines ,ni American traveller, “to discover that one is in the presence of a remarkable man. His searching but kindly glance, his quick, incisive speech,’ ids frank and open manner, his logical, clear-cut thoughts, the eagerness that lie displays hi seeking new ideas, and the wise judgment that he shows in his estimate of nun and matters, are in keeping with Ue restless energy that springs from his hi<rh spirit.” The Gaekwar was the first Indian prince to introduce free and compulsory education into a native State. He sent one of his sons to ho trained in the United States, where ho himself has travelled; and he has himself written a treatise on “Education of Indian Princes.” On his advice, one of his brothers has founded a public library in Baroda, and the Gaekwar himself has made o-ood use of his extensive experience of foreign customs and institutions m the administration of his own territories. “So impatient is he,” wo are told, “to further the public good, that he seems at times to chafe under the obstacles that impede the progress of his well-devised measures ; and in every why he is regarded by the Europeans who know India best as one of the finest products of that hybrid civilisation which the West has grafted upon' the traditions and instincts of the “immemorial East.” That a prince so distinguished for ids sympathy with Western modes of thought should on such an occasion as tins make a public demonstration of disloyalty would certainly appear to be a very ominous and deplorable sign of the times. Most people would prefer to believe that the Gaekwar’s own explanation—that his curious conduct and bearing were duo to nervousness, and not to any desire to affront the British Raj—is" the true one. But considering the disturbed condition of native f\ eling in India just now there is still room for the suspicion that many of the native princes are prepared to take a certain amount of risk to gain a reputation of independence and patriotism among their, fel-low-countrymen. The Gaekwar himself, like all the Mahrattas, is proud of his descent from chiefs who owned no lord or master, and he is probably anxioffs to avoid any touch of servility in his dealings' with other potentates whom he probably, in his own heart, regards only ;as his equals. As to the reputation for sedition and revolutionary sympathies that Baroda has earii- ’ ed, this is 1 probably for 1 the most part due 'to the progressive' policy of the Gaekwar, which has attrh'dfed to his. court' at’ Various times'ihdny of the agitatof A v'lio "are ncnU' engaged in promoting' thfe Nationalist movement, and stirring up revolt against the British Raj. But whatever he the precise cause of this untoward episode, it is only too likely to produce an 'unpleasant' impression throughout India; more particularly because it is difficult for the authorities to deal with it decisively enough to convince the natives that the Imperial Throne cannot bo slighted with impunity. The . popple of ’•lndia. 1 , like ll MI Orientals, ate ■ peculiarly susceptibly to " the inffueiice of * vigorous ahcUdramatic action. : If it‘were passible'for the Emperor King tA treat thei !( Gaekwar as John Nicholson treated Mehtab Singh—the prince who, to display his arrogance and his contempt for the English, came into the audience chamber wearing his shoes, and was ordered to go forth- bearing his shoos in his hands l —the incident might have been turned into a most instructive lesson. Nicholson’s methods are, unfortunately, out of date now; but the records of his marvellous successes in dealing with the native carry irrisistibly the conviction that in mling Oriental races a velvet glove is worse than useless if the hand it covers is not strong and firm-as iron.— “Auckland Star,” December 19.