“MUST MAKE HER CHOICE.”

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18617, 12 July 1930, Page 17

“MUST MAKE HER CHOICE.”

India at the Crossroads. STATEMENT BY VICEROY. United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright RUGBY, July 9. The Secretary of State for India, Mr W. Wedgwood Benn, in the House of Commons, to-day referred all members who desired to ask questions regarding the forthcoming round table conference on Indian affairs, to a statement made to-day by Lord Irwin, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, to the Indian Legislature in Simla, copies of which were circulated to the House. Viceroy’s Appeal. In the course of this important statement the Viceroy dealt with the campaign of civil disobedience, which has now been in progress for three months. He described it as a deliberate attempt to coerce' established authority by mass action, which must be regarded as unconstitutional and dangerously subver-

“After all,” said Lord Irwin, “is it not a very dangerous doctrine to preach to the citizens of India, that it is patriotic and laudable to refuse to obey the laws, or to pay taxes? Human nature is often reluctant to do either, and if there is anything certain, it is that if society is once thoroughly inoculated with these noxious microbes the disease will perpetually recur, until one day it paralyses the Indian Government of the future which by these methods it is sought to bring into existence.

“It may not be long,” added the Viceroy, “before Indian Ministers are responsible, for example, for the assessment and collection of land revenue, or other taxes. They would have little cause to thank those who had allowed the impression to gain ground that the withholding of payments legally due was a proper method of voicing general political dissatisfaction with an established Ministry. Therefore, it is that I have felt bound to combat these doctrines, and to arm the Government with such power as seem required to deal with the situation.”

Task of the Conference. Regarding the round table conference, the Viceroy said: “His Majesty’s Government has reached the conclusion that it would not be right to prescribe for the conference any terms more limited than were implied in my statement of November 1 last, and that the conference should enjoy the full freedom that those words connote. The conference accordingly will be free to approach its task, greatly assisted indeed, but with its liberty unimpaired by the report of the Statutory Commission, or by any other documents which will be before it. It is the belief of His Majesty’s Government that by the way of conference it should be possible to reach a solution that both countries, and all the parties and interests in them, can honourably accept; and any such agreement at which the conference is able to arrive will form the basis of proposals which His Majesty’s Government will later submit to Parliament. From such a definition of the scope of the conference it is clear that His Majesty’s Government conceives of it not as a mere meeting for discussion and debate, but as a joint assembly of representatives of both countries, on whose agreement precise proposals to Parliament may be founded.

“The conference will thus enjoy unfettered the right of examining the whole problem in all its bearings, with the knowledge that its labours are of no academic kind, and His Majesty’s Government will hope that Indians of all schools of thought, whatever the attitude that some have hitherto taken, will be ready to share this constructive work.

“I see no reason why, from a frank discussion on all sides, a scheme might not emerge for submission to Parliament which would confound the pessimism of those who tell us that it is impossible for Great Britain and India, or for the various interests in India, to reach agreement.” Dominion Status. Earlier in his review of the Indian situation Lord Irwin recalled that when he came to India as Viceroy, "it was clear that his principal duty was to devote all his energies to the maintenance of a progressive, orderly, and contented India, within the orbit of the British Commonwealth. It was also evident that, looking ahead, it was hardly to be expected that India, rightly sensitive of her self-respect, and growing every year more conscious of a national feeling, should, of her own free will, desire to remain a partner in a political society such as the British Empire upon terms which implied a permanent inferiority of status.

It was for this reason, and with the object of removing unavoidable misunderstandings on this vital matter, that His Majesty’s Government last year authorised him to declare that, in its view, the attainment of Dominion status was the natural completion of India’s constitutional growth. That declaration was made, and stood.

The Government simultaneously announced its intention to convene a conference as widely representative in character as possible, in order that, after the submission of the Statutory Commission’s report, the spokesmen of Great Britain and India might take free counsel together upon .measures which the Government would later present to Parliament. That report has now been published, and he did not think that any impartial reader, whatever may be his opinion upon the actual recommendations made,, would deny that the Commission had made a weighty and constructive contribution to a most difficult problem. Great as for its intrinsic value must be the authority of the report, it was neither

the desire nor the function of the Commission to anticipate the decisions of the Government, reached after the conference with representatives from India, or by Parliament Itself. Its task was described by Sir John Simon in the following words: "No one should regard the Statutory Commission, or its colleagues, as though we were settling and deciding the constitution of British India. Our task is very important, but it is not that. Our task is that of making a fair, honest and sympathetic report to the Imperial Parliament. When we have made our report, then it would be India’s opportunity to make her full contribution, which is right and necessary, to her future constitution, which would be framed by Great Britain and India together.” The Viceroy’s Intentions. Lord Irwin added that the duty of expressing an opinion now passed to the Government of India. Before reaching conclusions he hoped to discuss the whole subject with some of those who spoke for non-official India. He would see some of the ruling Princes and representatives of the different States next week, and proposed to invite representatives of different views and interests from British India to meet him later. The Viceroy concluded by stating that two roads to-day lay open before India: one leading to turmoil, disunity, disappointment, and shattered hopes; and the other guiding those who would follow it to the India of their dreams, a proud partner in the full Commonwealth of Nations and lending and gaining strength by such honourable association. India to-day had to make her choice, and he prayed she might choose aright.