The Wanganui Chronicle. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 1932. FRANCHISE FOR INDIA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 151, 29 June 1932, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 1932. FRANCHISE FOR INDIA

Britain is keeping her word to India is disclosed by to-day’s announcement upon Indian constitutional procedure by Sir Samuel Hoare. The declaration marks another important milestone in the granting of franchise to that great country. Solid progress has been made towards the goal of the All India Federation, a fact that has been fully emphasised by the work of the Round-Table Committees. The franchise committee unanimously signed its recommendations for establishing a franchise system under the forthcoming constitution, and except for dissent on one or two minor issues, the committee, composed of Britishers, Hindus, Moslems, Anglo-Indians and other Indian factions, were at one on the proposals which they drafted. They claimed that they had “provided a foundation upon which a responsible government can be erected if communalism does not tear it to pieces.” The achievement of the committee, headed by the Marquis of Lothian, surprised even official circles, but recognition by members of the committee that the communal issue was still the chief stumbling-block, revealed again the seriousness of this question. Since then the communal tension has been greatly deepened, so that the Government’s announcement of an early decision on this aspect of progress in India will be awaited with growing interest. It is the weak link in the chain of Indian security.