The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 1919. INDIAN REFORMS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16455, 6 June 1919, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 1919. INDIAN REFORMS.

The splendid assistance given bv India to the Empire during the war forbids the idea, that that country is anything but loyal at heart. Its loyalty is emphasised rather than otherwise by the fact that there is widespread dissatisfaction with the existing form of government, though no doubt that dissatisfaction has ueen sedulously fostered during the period of the war by German agencies for the purpose of giving England as much trouble as possible. The better class in India, however, gives England credit for a desire to rule the country justly and to extend its powers of self-govern-ment as rapidly us the ability of the people to govern themselves permits, A year ago Mr. E. S. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford, in their report on constitutional refonns, admitted that the present machinery of government no longer meets the needs of the time; it works slowly and it produces irritation; there is a widespread demand on the part of educated Indian opinion for its alteration; and the need for advance is recognised by official opinion also. At the end of the eighteenth century the Marquis of Wellesley was sent by Pitt to India and from the first he laid down as his guiding principle that England must be the one paramount power in the Penin-

aula. The subsequent political gradual development of this policy, which received its finishing touch when Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India in 1877. Also about the end of the eighteenth century Sir Thos. Munro pointed out very clearly the course England shpuld pursue, when he asked: “Are we to be satisfied with merely securing our power and protecting the inhabitants or are we to endeavour to raise their character, to render them worthy of filling stations in the management of their country and devising plans for its improvement?” He answered that question himself in these words; “We should look on India not as a temporary possession, but as one which is to be maintained permanently, until the natives shall in some future age have abandoned most of their superstitions and prejudices and become sufficiently enlightened to frame a regular government for themselves and to conduct and preserve it.” Subsequent history proves how earnestly and steadfastly England has striven to carry out that ideal. She has achieved marvels in the government of the country and all the time has been educating the people in view of the day when they should be able to govern themselves. The inevitable result of that education is the desire for self-determination and the demands that now meet us from the educated classes of India are no more than, the right and natural outcome of the work of a hundred years. The Montagu report says there can be no question of going back or withholding the , education and enlightenment in which we ourselves believe; and yet the more we pursue our present course without at the same time providing the opportunities for the satisfaction of the desires which it creates, the more unpopular and difficult must our present government become and the worse must be the effect upon the mind of India. Neither Mr. Montagu nor Lord Chelmsford doubts that the policy of the past was the right one, indeed they agree that it was thei only possible policy, and therefore its logical consequences must now be faced. The war, however, lias not only, temporarily diverted the attention of British statesmen, but it has also given the opportunity for enemy influences to stir up disaffection in India. Now there are evidences that the subject will receive the attention it demands and a few days ago Mr. Montagu outlined his policy, which aims

first at the maintenance of order, .secondly at the investigation of grievances, and thirdly at the conversion of India into a union of great self-governing countries, or provinces, entrusted with their own self-government, and becoming full partners in the British Commonwealth. The process will begin in local affairs; then there will be an advance in some subjects of provincial concern; and it will proceed to the complete control of provincial matters, and thence, in the course of time and subject to the proper discharge o‘£ Imperial responsibilities, to the control of matters concerning all India. Such present limitations on powers as are proposed are due only to the obvious fact that time is necessary in order to train both representatives and electorates for the work it is desired they shall undertake. There is every reason to hope that as the result of this process India’s connection with the Empire will be confirmed bv the wishes of her people. The experience of a century of Empire building has proved that as power is given to the people of a province or a Dominion to manage their own local affairs, their attachment becomes the stronger to the Empire which comprehends them all in a common bond of union. The difficulty in regard to India is to regulate the process, but it would be as dangerous to delay the giving of powers of self-government as to err in the opposite direction, so we may expect to see Mr, Montagu’s policy proceeded with as early as possible.