Disloyalty in India.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13697, 12 September 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

Disloyalty in India.

(By Weuton Sterne, in the London Dailv Mail.)

The riots in Bombay, following the bomb-throwing in Bengal, and coinciding with the trials of many of the leaders of native life and thought for stirring up sedition, prove puzzling to those who have no personal acquaintance with the subtle East, They find it. hard to understand that any peoples, nations, and languages—for India, recollect always contains many of all three—can fail to appreciate the blessings of 'British rule or be blind to the advantage conferred by regular and systematic administration of justice. We have so often ltetened to the praises of the Indian Civil Service from the lips of those in high authority, and we are so generally confident ill the lofty moral characteristics tliat. we like to believe the birth right, of our race, thatit is difficult for us to put. ourselves for a moment in the position of people who know fully as little about us as we do about them, and heartily dislike the little that they know. There are certain - classes among th~ three hundred and odd millions of persons who inhabit our Indian Empire* who are distinctly loyal and in favour of the continuance of British rule. They are great rajalis, or princes, and the landholders to whom the Government of India practically guarantees the peaceful enjoyment of their possessions. We have also on our side the great majority of those who are directly in our service, that is, the native army, the police, and all such of our employees; as consider themselves adequately paid and have no desire to forfeit their salaries. On the lit her hand, we find arrayed against us wliat may almost be described as . the brains of India- The legit! arid commercial classes are lately in opposition. The native newspapers and educational institutions are nearly all hostile. They are reinforced bytho vast army.of discontented and underpaid, who naturally hope to catch some fish if the ivatens can be sufficiently disturbed.

These gentlemen have various grievances to air. They are nil irresponsible. They are all eloquent. Many of them havo been in England, and the stories ther tell about their sojourn hers do not make lor tho heightening of our prestige in India. They spy out the nakedness of the dominant, country, and they havo no hesitation in describing it. Aziimillali Khan, the envoy of Nana Sahib, did precisely the same in his day. His coloured version of the decadence and imjiotenee of the British had much influence in provoking the outbreak of the great Mutiny.

Meanwhile main Ihh1;»* of our Indian wait ;uul watch. They have heard much about the strength of tho Sahib. They' have heard niiie.li also of his weakness. They ■will" now >•€# which of the two stories is true. For themselves, they regard us an evil jswil on them fp>m Heaven. or elsewhere, for reasons which it is idle to inquire into atid doubtless impossible '■<> discover, tJut ways of life and habits they view with a tolerant contempt. Our amusementa t hey consider only worthy of lunatics. Our more serious ambitious they have no deusire or kisuro to appreciate. Our food habits and our Intuited eleanliikji-JS they would prefer not to d*scu««. If keenly questioned, they will admit ihat meat-eating please# many of them about a* much a* cannibalism charms us. and that they could not jH'rsonally qtiit<e mks their way to twing the same mothbruvh for weeks at a limo and retaining the trfime elothe.s for months. It will come ;%h something of a revelation, even to many Anglo.wln'ti they first hear that th« Indian considers that the very smell of a Kurojx'an if offensive and objectionable ! It hie> long been a common complaint the other way. But tho compliment i* fully returned. In old times, when all our people in India ivere really Sahib.*. there were fewer causes of daily friction than the-ru hi,, today. Tho development of coinmere and indt*.try lutt iH-ce»>arily taken out to India a c!;l.vn of Kutojieans who ato n«<t for tact, forbearance, nr fnurteriy. Kv« 11 tho Indian Civil Service, «ukv th r day* of ounpefimc <'\iiuiin:itioiiN in, ha* ??omc : w hat- tie. terior.it»-d in perM-nn*!. It i>. |»*.-rhapK> unavoidable, but it if much to be tr gritted. The tl.*rgy <>l ail denomina lion* «reat«< a fresh awkwardness. 'lite Oriental iui^und« , r.-tand>: them, and view* their rather clumpy effort,* to descend to his rupjHcvvi intellectual and Minil |fv-l with antUM.*<l 6corn. Meanwhile in- iiw.kr. with x.-lively veiled coaNinp; mi the in<c,«*>ant dane.t*. iiruige j>ank-», gymkhana*, pi'-un*-.. and tlx* like. A judge dtoppmg into a bucket, ■•r a Commlfitoner taking part in private? ! hralne.u». i» to hull it "•]-etarh- that, in.ik.for mirth rather for r* vrrcn. e. Hp coir-id< r> thai th« old generation «>f Sail:!**, uiniw; \cry vie> * w ere a pattern ••f jwivaiai dignity, has pa».»«-.i away f<»« ev> r. and he iet:«U a i*iuiv 'nr to th<* is ho nt.uid hint tha* ■v neti' ra] 2t:».a!si'. v* luo-. t«r<r»>l P.sit.wn, of ith><'h ! hj» x> jwrforiti-ini-''-.'! -if j mercltr »vtnp : .'»in*-. To our pnsxtige in India and !» ff. cro .<cr J uU- on lh* mtn i<i n.'*-j». and ijiu** tAk'«>rj.a to remove tiif nt- cats**-* of oi?, if '' Thp ««-.,»<rmly f; svohu<*t and « S rs'javagantK* of tho govc.rtn.sj^ ria*» !«• *t«u!v pu; away livery i r.arr>|-» an r h"i:M !»• rotnjciio] '<■- ] i.;im tiif rh».-f lanyuasc At l«-a*« "f :h«> ; part srtjlar j.rovsrirv- jn 'v h;■ j in* i* ;i cast. .Mutii crd » Bv* lie wuteytue t

of misunderstandings which produce undue touchiness on one. side and halfterrified inability on the other. Disloyalty either in act. or speech must bo rigorously suppressed. Conduct likely to irritate racial antagonism, must bo re? garded as an offence in a European as well as in a native. The j>ytsiem of education, which has resulted in. •: such fiascos, must be radically altered. But. above and beyond all else, our people must be and behave like Sahibs, and learn to respect the feelings and susceptibilities of races, many of which in the dawn of history sprang irom the same ancestry as our own.