IRWIN – GANDHI TREATY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18831, 20 March 1931, Page 9

IRWIN - GANDHI TREATY

Mr Churdiill Outspoken. SURRENDER ASTOUNDS WORLD. United Press Association—Bv Electrlo Telegraph—Copyright (Received March 19. 7.0 p.m.) LONDON. March 19. "You will never be able to come to terms with Gandhi,” said Mr Winston Churchill, addressing a crowded meeting in Albert Hall, organised by the India Empire Society. “This surrender is a hideous act of self-mutilation, which has astounded every nation in the world.” Viscount Burnham, who was a member of the Simon Commission, said that the Irwin-Gandhi treaty must be regarded as a triumph for lawlessness and a masterpiece of casuistry. VICEROY CRITICISED. MR CHURCHILL’S PESSIMISM. During the India debate in the House of Commons, Mr Churchill expressed surprise that the agreement between the Viceroy and Gandhi had been hailed as a miracle of statecraft. No doubt Lord Irwin had made the best possible bargain. The boycott and civil disobedience had been partially called off, but they could be started again if Gandhi lifted his little finger. Mr Baldwin had described the agreement as a victory for moderation over extremism, said Mr Churchill. Really it was a victory for law-breakers to whom hopes had been held out that they would soon be law makers. Lord Irwin’s actions in the past year had fostered Gandhi's power to an inconceivable extent. They had raised the members of the Congress to a pedestal of eminence in the eyes of India’s disloyal elements as having inflicted on the Government such humiliation and defiance as had not been known since British people first trod the soil of India.

Mr Churchill said he welcomed Mr Baldwin’s recent announcement of the Conservatives’ unwillingness to take part in a further conference in India. He entirely agreed with the leader’s reference to future procedure. They must face the facts. The London conference had not solved a single major difficulty. The chances that an agreement which would unite all sections in India would be ratified by the British Parliament were very slight. They were encouraging hopes in India which could not be realised. Opinion In Britain and in India should be prepared for the impending shock. NO PROBLEM INSOLUBLE. STATEMENT BY LORD CHANCELLOR. British. Official Wireless RUGBY, March 18. In the debate on the situation in India in the House of Lords, the Lord Chancellor (Lord Sankey) reviewed the events leading up to the RoundTable Conference, the results of the Conference and their effect in India. He said the delegates to the Conference were not plenipotentaries; it was their responsibility to examine the facts and make suggestions. The Federal Structure Sub-Committee’s report, therefore, had been drafted so as to leave many questions open, but in his view there was no problem in India that was insoluble. It was perfectly possible to draft a Federal Constitution, fair and just to everybody, and with the precedents before them, combined with the wisdom of the East and West, they could, and would, do so.

Lord Peel said he could not help feeling during the last few months that the Government had been too ready, he would not say to apologise for, but not to take a stand on its own position in India, which gave us rights and laid upon us duties and responsibilties. Lord Reading, referring to the Vice-roy-Gandhi agreement, said the conditions in India had very greatly improved from the moment that agreement, which was brought about by the Round-Table Conference, was reached. The Conference, therefore, had enabled peace to be declared in India. OUTLOOK IMPROVED. SUSPICIONS REMOVED. United Press Association—By Klectrle Telegraph—Copyright LONDON, March 18. Lord Reading said the Round Table Conference had definitely improved the Indian outlook, removing the mistrust and suspicions which had previously given Indian politicians concern. He paid a tribute to Lord Irwin’s work, and the triumph of the agreement with Mr Gandhi as an earnest of goodwill. Lord Passfield, replying, said the Government was guided entirely by Lord Irwin, in whom it had the fullest confidence, and desired all parties to cooperate regarding India. COTTON SPINNERS PROTEST. BOYCOTT ANTI-BRITISH. Brltlßh Official Wireless RUGBY, March 18. A statement issued to-day by the Cotton Spinners’ and Manufacturers’ Association and the Federation of Master Cotton Spinners’ Association, expresses disquiet at the provision in,

the recent agreement between the Viceroy and certain political leaders, by which picketing is to be regarded as a legal form of propaganda if peacefully carried out for economic, and not political, purposes. Although nominally directed against all foreign goods, the boycott has been anti-British rather than anti-foreign, and one of the worst features was the •fact that it was supported by individuals who had extensive interests in Indian cotton textile and industries, and ,who were undoubtedly profiting by it.