Wairarapa Daily Times [Established 45 Years.] FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1919. UNREST IN THE EMPIRE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 45, Issue 13984, 21 November 1919, Page 4

Wairarapa Daily Times [Established 45 Years.] FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1919. UNREST IN THE EMPIRE.

A year ago the British Empire secured its freedom from attack from without, but peace seems to have accentuated its internal difficulties. Since the armistice was signed there have been several serious risings in India and Egypt; in South Africa the Nationalists are preaching their separatist doctrines more noisily and boldly than they have done since the rebellion of 1914; in Ireland the chronic discontent shows no abatement,, and the defiance of constiuttcd authority by Sinn Fein is more open and systematic than ever. This world-wide unrest can be attributed to various causes. Everywhere, even in countries not immediately affected, the war has produced a sort of jumpiness or nervousness, the reaction of which is an impatience of compromise and a tendency to appeal to violence rid her than to reason. The prevalancc of strikes in the West is due to precisely the same functioning of mob psychology as the rioting and disorder in the East. Again the recognition of the principle enunciated by President Wilson's famous point that, small nationalities shall have the right of selfdetermination has renewed the ambitions and added fuel, to the activities of those who would have their country, according to Iho stereotyped formula, throw off the yoke of Britain, their oppressor. Moreover, as far as Egypt and India are concerned, the utter collapse of Turkey must be counted among the elements of discord. During the war both were thoroughly loyal to the British Raj. In vain did the Sultan declare a jehad and call upon all good Moslems to combine against Britain. The failure of his co-religionists in Egypt and India to respond must have surprised and chagrined the Sultan no less than his German advisers. Mohammedans fought gallantly for Britain against the Turks in Meospotamia, Palestine and Gallipoli. But to fight Turkey was one thing; to see her utterly deprived of every shred of prestige was quite another. The Sultan was the head of

the Moslem faith; Constantinople was the seat of his government, and the symbol of the temporal power of Mohammedanism, Mecca, par excellence the Holy City, and to the orthodox Mohammedan what Rome is to the devout Roman Catholic, was in Turkish territory. When Turkey tottered and crashed at tho British assault, many in India and Egypt were left bewildered and ruddorelss, an easy prey to the solicitations of the agitator, a tool ready to the hand has always been a section in India which prefers revolution to evolution, and although the Montagu-Chelmsford report recommended the grant of a. substantial in--stalment of self-government to India, and although by embodying its proposals in a Bill the British Government has given evidence of the sincerity of its intentions, the extremists wore not satisfied. Their dissatisfaction culminated a few months ago in a series of outbreaks, chiefly in the Punjaub, during which the situation in India is declared by a writer in the last "Round Table" to have been more critical than at any time since the Mutiny. Yet even at its worst there wero some redeeming features, notably in the attitude of the more responsible sections of the Nationalists, who deprecated alnjy appeal to force. These, pointed out with justice that since their grievance was the withholding of a fuller measure of autonomy, they chose a strange way of ■demonstrating their fitness to make the law by breaking it. Their advice was sound; it should be listened to by malcontents in other countries, than India. Violence defeats tits own ends; the "nationalists" of the Empire, under whatever name they pass, are far more likely to accomplish their objects by constitutional means. But unfortunately for these objects the very men who talk most about oppression are seldom able to define them with any precision, or to guarantee that they will be acceptable to a. majority of their fellows.. The plans of the extremists in India and Egypt make no provision for the defence of: a country which has freed itself from British interference, or even for the maintenance of domestic order. Geenral Hertzog represents a section which, having entered the Union entirely of its own volition, and without any compulsion whatever, v has now changed its mind, to the prejudice of the other members. In Ireland the cause of the unrest is the failure of the Irish themselves to evolve a policy which will satisfy them. Students of Irish opinion sco a gleam of hope in two proposals which are at present provoking a good deal of discussion in England. One is Sir Horace Plunkett's suggestion that Ireland should be given the status of a dominion; the other involves partition on a basis of equality between Ulster and tho rest, and contemplates the formation of a, joint government by the two, should they so desire. The drawbacks of either proposal from the rival points of view are obvious, but, any working arrangement which can moderate antagonism and alleviate discontent will be welcomed not only by England, but by all Irishmen who love their country.