o V 7' aO-^ <^, ^v 'V^ ^<^ '^y^^^/ ^^ ^ .^X^-^^ o ^^0^ <^°^ u. \y- ."»■ 'oK • • s \ ' 6 9 12 IS 18 21 24 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 VII THE INDIAN ARMY AND NAVY The real enemy is the war spirit fostered in Prussia. It is an ideal of a world in which force and brutality reign supreme, as against a world, an ideal of a world, peopled by free democracies, united in an honourable league of peace. David Lloyd George "The Destruction of a False Ideal." Speech delivered at the Albert Hall on the launching of the New War Economy Campaign, October 22, 1917. When the Indian troops first arrived in October, 1914, the situation was of so drastic a nature that it was necessary to call upon them at once to re-enforce the fighting front and help to stem the great German thrust. Their fine fighting qualities, tenacity, and endurance were well manifested during the first Battle of Ypres before they had been able to completely reorganize after their voyage from India. Lord French, the First Commander- in-Chief of British forces on the Western front. The full story of the Palestine victory still remained to be told, but when the record of that glorious campaign was unfolded, ACROSS the page OF HISTORY WOULD BE WRIT LARGE THE NAME OF INDIA, 84 THE INDIAN ARMY AND NAVY 85 Lord Chelmsford, the Governor- General of India, on September 26, 1918. As is usual in our history, we have triumphed after many sad blunders and in the end we have defeated Turkey almost single-handed, though our main forces have throughout the war been engaged with another foe. In fact, it is to india that our recent victory is due. . . . Major General Sir Frederick Maurice in The New York TimeSy November 6, 19 18. The present Governor of the Punjab (his precise designation is Lieutenant Governor), who is the most reactionary, self-complacent and conceited of all the provincial rulers of India, has in the course of his appeals for recruits for the present war said more than once that the right of self-government carries with it the responsibility of defending the country. The distinguished authors of the Report have also remarked in one place that so long as the duty of defending India rests on Great Britain, the British Parliament must control the Government of India. Now let us see what the facts are. (i) The first thing to be remembered in this con- nection is that during the whole period of British rule in India, not a penny has been spent by Great Britain for Indian defence. The defence of India has been well provided for by Indian Revenues. On the other hand India has paid millions in helping Great Britain not only in defending the Empire, but in extendingj 86 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA it.^ Whatever protection has been afforded to India by the British Navy — and that has by no means been small — has been more than repaid by India's services to the Empire in China, Egypt, South Africa and other parts of the world. As to the miHtary forces of India, they consist of two wings : {a) the British and (b) the Indian. The pre-war Indian army consisted of 80,000 British and 160,000 Indians. Indian public opinion has for decades been protesting against the denial to Indians of officers' commissions in the Indian army, as also against the strength of the British element therein. Every British unit of the Indian army from the Field Marshal to the Tommy is paid for his services by India. India pays for these services not only during the time they form part of the Indian army but also for their training and equipment. It pays all their leave, transfer and pension charges. It even pays for whatever provision is made in England for their medical relief, etc. In the line of the military and naval defence of India, Great Britain has not done as much for India as she has done for the dominions and self-governing colonies. Under the circumstances it is adding insult to injury to insinuate that India has in any way shirked the duty of providing for her defence. We will say nothing of India's services during the war. In the military defence of India, the contribution of the Punjab has always been the greatest. If the British provinces are considered singly, it will be found that the Punjab has been supplying the largest number of units for the Indian army, not only in the ^#See chapter on "How India has helped England make her Em- pire," in England's Debt to India, by the present author. THE INDIAN ARMY AND NAVY 87 ranks of the fighters, but also in the ranks of auxiliaries. During this war, too, the Punjab made the largest contribution of both combatants and non-combatants. Yet, if we compare the civil status of the people of the Punjab with that of other provinces, we will find that they have been persistently denied equaUty of status with Bengal, Bombay and Madras. The Punjab peasantry, which supplies the largest number of soldiers to the army, is the most illiterate and ignorant of all the classes of Indian population. Their economic and legal position may better be studied in Mr. Thorborn's The Punjab in Peace and in War. The Municipal and Local Boards of the province do not possess as much independence as has been conceded in the other provinces. The judicial administration of the province is as antiquated as it could possibly be under British rule. Instead of a High Court we have still a Chief court.2 Captains and Majors and Colonels are still performing judicial functions as magistrates and judges. The trial by jury in the cases of Indians is unknown. Until lately the Punjab was stamped with the badge of inferioity by being called a non-Regulation province. Even in this report the Secretary of State for India and the Viceroy have spoken of it as a backward province. It will thus be seen that the contribution of the Punjab to the mihtary strength of the Empire has in no way benefited her population in getting better opportunities for civil progress or greater civil liberties. But recently the President of the Punjab Provincial Conference uttered hard words against the Provincial administration's pohcy of repression and coercion. He said that their ''cup of disappointment, * It has now been converted into a High Court. 88 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OE INDIA discontent and misery, in the Punjab, at any rate, was full to overflowing." So much about the discharge of obligations for military defence carrying with it the right of self- government. The Indians have no desire to shirk their responsibility for the military defence of India; nor do they want to balk their contribution to the Imperial defence. Their demands in this respect may be thus summarised: (i) That the Indian Army should be mainly officered by the Indians. (2) That as much as is possible of the arms and ammunition equipment, and the military stores required for the Indian army be pro- duced in India. (3) That the strength of the British element be considerably reduced. (4) That the nature of the Indian army, which is at present one of hired soldiers, be converted into that of a National Militia with a smaU stand- ing army and a great reserve. (5) That in order to do it, some kind of compulsory military training be introduced. All young men between the ages of 17 and 21 may be required to undergo military training and put in at least one year of military service. (6) That as a preliminary step towards it the existing Arms Act be repealed and, under proper safeguards, the people be allowed to carry and possess arms in peace and war, so as to be familiar with their use. (7) That slowly and gradually, as funds can be THE INDIAN ARMY AND NAVY 89 spared from the other demands more urgent and pressing, an Indian Navy be built. Having explained the position of the Indian Nation- alist in this matter, we will now see what Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford say on this matter in their report. In Paragraph 328 they state the "Indian wishes" and point out that ''for some years Indian poHticians have been urging the right of Indians in general to bear arms in defence of their country"; and that "we have everywhere met a general demand from the political leaders for extended opportunities for military service," but that the subject being more or less outside the scope of their enquiry and ''requirements of the future" being dependent "on the form of peace which is attained," they "leave this question for consideration hereafter with the note that it must be faced and settled." In Paragraph 330 they deal with the question of "British Commissions for Indians." "The announcement of his Majesty's Government that 'the bar which has hitherto prevented the admis- sion of Indians to commissioned rank in His Majesty's Army should be removed' has established the principle that the Indian soldier can earn the King's commission by his military conduct. It is not enough merely to assert a principle. We must act on it. The services of the Indian army in the war and the great increase in its numbers make it necessary that a considerable number of commissions should now be given. The appointments made so far have been few. Other methods of appointment have not yet been decided on, but we are impressed with the necessity of grappling with the problem. We also wish to establish the principle that if an Indian is enlisted as a private in a 90 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA British unit of His Majesty's Army its commissioned ranks also should be open to him." The "other methods of appointment" that have been announced since the report was signed are far from satisfactory. It has been said that the responsi- biUty for this niggardly policy in the matter of admitting Indians to the Commissioned ranks of the army rests with the Home Government and that the Indian Government's recommendations were much more liberal. Now, as practical men, we fully realize that for some time to come, at least until British suspicion of India's desire to get out of the Empire is completely removed by the grant of responsible government to India, India's military policy and the Indian army must be controlled by the British executive. On that point all the parties in India are agreed. But it is absolutely necessary that some steps be at once taken to remove the stigma of military helplessness from India's forehead. Let the British retain the control and the command, but let us share the responsibility to some extent and let our young men be trained for the future defence of their Motherland. To deprive them of all means of doing that, to charge them with neglect of that paramount duty and then to urge it as a disqualification of civil liberties, is hardly fair. VIII THE EUROPEAN COMUNITY IN INDIA The old world, at least, believed in ideals. It believed that justice, fair play, liberty, righteousness must triumph in the end; that is, however you interpret the phrase, the old world believed in God, and it staked its existence on that belief. Millions of gallant young men volunteered to die for that divine faith. But if wrong emerged triumphant out of this conflict, the new world would feel in its soul that brute force alone counted in the govern- ment of man; and the hopelessness of the dark ages would once more fall on the earth like a cloud. David Lloyd George "No Halfway House." Speech delivered at Gray's Inn, December 14, 191 7. A WHOLE section of the Report has been devoted to a consideration of the claims of the European Com- munity in India. It is said: ''We cannot conclude without taking into due account the presence of a considerable community of non-official Europeans in India. In the main they are engaged in commercial enterprises; but besides these are the missions, European and American, which in furthering education, building up character, and in- 91 92 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA culcating healthier domestic habits have done work for which India should be grateful. There are also an appreciable number of retired oflficers and others whose working life has been given to India, settled in the cooler parts of the country. When complaints are rife that European commercial interests are selfish and drain the country of wealth which it ought to retain, it is well to remind ourselves how much of Indians material prosperity is due to European commerce J^ [The italics are ours]. We have no desire to raise a controversy over the assumption which underlies the last statement in the above extract. The authors are themselves cognizant of it when they remark, later on, that the ''benefit'' which India has received by her commercial develop- ment in European hands is "not less because it was incidental and not the purpose of the undertaking." These are matters on which the Indian Nationalist may well hold his own opinion and yet endorse the spirit of the following observations: *' Clearly it is the duty of British Commerce in India to identify itself with the interests of India, which are higher than the interests of any community; to take part in political life; to use its considerable wealth and opportunities to commend itself to India; and having demonstrated both its value and its good intentions, to be content to rest like other industries on the new foundation of Government in the wishes of the people. No less is it the wish of Indian politicians to respect the expectations which have been implicitly held out; to remember how India has profited by commercial development which only British capital and enterprise achieved; to bethink themselves that though the capital invested in private enterprises was not borrowed under any assurance that the existing form of government would endure, yet the favourable THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY IN INDIA 93 terms on which money was obtained for India's develop- ment were undoubtedly affected by the fact of British rule; and to abstain from advocating differential treatment aimed not so much at promoting Indian as at injuring British commerce." We must say that the last insinuation is perfectly gratuitous. Nor is it correct to say even by implica- tion that the non-oflScial European community has hitherto abstained from taking part in politics. The fact is that Indian politics have hitherto been too greatly dominated by the British merchant both at home and in India. The British merchant doing business in India had to submit to the prior claims of the British manufacturers in Great Britain in matters in which their interests did not coincide, but otherwise their interests received the greatest possible attention from the Government of India. In proportion to their incomes derived from India by the employment of Indian labour on terms more or less guaranteed to them by the Indian Government's special legislation they have made the smallest possible contribution to the Indian Revenues; yet they have been the greatest possible hindrance in the development of Indian liberties. They have all the time owned a powerful press which has employed all the resources of education and enhghtenment, all the powers of manipulating facts and figures in maintaining and strengthening the rule of autocracy in the country. We do not propose to open these wounds. But we cannot help remarking that so far they have exercised quite a disproportionate influence in the decisions of the Government of India. Those of them who are domi- ciled in the country are our brothers and no Indian 94 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA has the least desire to do anything that will harm them in any way. Their importance must, in future, be determined not by their race or colour or creed but by their numbers, their education and their position in the economic life of the country. They must no longer lord it over the Indians simply because they are of European descent. They should claim no preferences or exemptions because of that fact. As an integral part of the Indian body politic they are entitled to all the consideration which they deserve by virtue of their intellectual or economic position. They should henceforth be Indo-British both in spirit and in name. They will find the Indians quite ready to forget the past and embrace them as brothers for the common prosperity of their joint country. As regards the other European merchants who are not domiciled in India but are there just to make money and return to spend it in their native land, they are no more entitled to any place in the political machinery of the Indian Government than the Hindus who trade in the United States or in England. So far every European, of whatever nationality he might be, has occupied a position of privilege in India. He was granted rights which were denied to the sons of the soil. Every German or Austrian or Bulgarian could keep or carry any number and kind of arms he wanted without any license, while the natives of India, even of the highest position, could not do so unless exempted either by virtue of their rank or by the favour of the Administration. Jews and Ar- menians, Turks and Russians, Scandinavians, Danes, Italians and Swiss all enjoyed the privilege. When charged with any serious offence punishable by im- THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY IN INDIA 95 prisonment for more than six months, they could claim trial by a jury having a majority of Europeans on it, while no Indian outside the Presidency towns of Bom- bay, Calcutta and Madras had that right. Even there, the jury trying an Indian could include a majority of Europeans. In the famous trial of Mr. B. G. Tilak in 1908, the jury was composed of seven Euro- peans and two Parsees. It is obvious that these discriminations in favour of the Europeans must cease and that no European not domiciled in India should enjoy a position of special privilege. Indians are noted for their hospitality and chivalry. Their own codes of honor effectively prevent them from doing any harm or injury to a foreigner. Every European doing business in India or on any other errand is a guest of honor and entitled to that treatment, pro- vided he does not assume racial superiority and look down upon the people of the country and take ad- vantage of their being subjects of a European power. No Indian will be so foolish as to injure the com- mercial development of his country by scaring the foreign trader or the foreign capitalist. All that he wants is freedom to lay down the terms on which that trade will be carried on consistently with the interests of India's millions. What he stands for is equality and reciprocity. As other peoples are free to name the conditions on which the foreign trader may do business in their countries, so must the Indians be. Nothing more and nothing less than this is de- manded. As regards the citizens of the British Empire also, the same right of reciprocity is demanded. We are glad that the representatives of the Dominions have 96 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA recognized the justice of that claim and expressed their willingness to concede it. Coming to the Missions, European and American, the advice given is rather gratuitous. The Indians have left nothing undone to show their gratitude to them for the good work done by them in spite of the fact that they, too, in the past, have not hesitated to use the fact of their race and colour for the benefit of their propaganda. The person of a religious man is sacred in the eyes of an Indian, regardless of his par- ticular creed. The Christian missionary has so far enjoyed a unique position of safety and freedom in the country even to a greater extent than the Hindu or the Moslem priest. The latter have often quarrelled amongst themselves, but the former they have always respected and honored. There is absolutely no reason to think that this is likely to change in any way by the grant of political liberty to the Indians. It is possible, however, that, with the growth of free thought in India, religious teachers of all denominations may not continue to be the recipients of the same honour as has been paid to them in the past by virtue of their religious office. Dogmatic religion, whether it be Hinduism, Mohammedanism or Christianity is in a state of decay. In that respect India is feeling the reaction of world forces and no amount of political coercion or repression can stop it. In my humble judgment the average Indian has thus far been more tolerant of and more considerate to the Christian missionary than the latter has been to the Indian. Even in the matter of gratitude the Christian mis- sionary may with advantage learn from the Hindu. The instances are not rare in which all the hospitality, THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY IN INDIA 97 respect and honor which a Christian missionary has received during his stay in India have been repaid by the latter's freely traducing the character of the Indians in his home land. To no small degree is the Christian missionary responsible for the feeling of contempt with which the Indian is looked down upon in America and other countries of the West. We do not object to his speaking the truth, but it is not the truth that he always speaks. Of gratitude, at least, he gives no evidence. The European Community in India is divided into two classes: (a) pure Europeans, who number a little less than 200,000 in the total population of 315,000,000. (178,908 in the British provinces and 20,868 in the native States.) (b) Anglo-Indians, hitherto called Eurasians, who number about 83,000 (68,612 in British territories and 15,045 in the Native States). Thus the whole European community in India is less than 300,000. IX THE NATIVE STATES The Native States of India constitute one of the anomalies of Indian political life. They are the honored remnants of the old order of things — an order in which personal bravery, resourcefulness and leadership with or without capacity for successful intrigue enabled individuals to carve out kingdoms and principalities for themselves and their legal successors. In the case of some of these Native States the genealogies of the ruling houses go back to the early centuries of the Christian era by historical evidence and to pre-Christian times by tradition. Their origin is somewhat shrouded in mystery. In popular belief they are the descendants of gods — gods of light and life, the Sun and the Moon. Next to the Royal family of Japan, they are perhaps the only houses among the rulers of the earth which can claim such an ancient and unbroken lineage of royalty with sover- eignty of one kind or another always vested in them. There have been times in their history when the royal heads of these states had no house to live in and no bed to sleep on, much less a territory to rule and an army to command. This was, however, a part of their royalty. In struggles against powerful enemies, sometimes of their own race and religion, but more often foreign aggressors of different blood and creed, 98 THE NATIVE STATES 99 they were many a time worsted and driven to extreme straits of poverty and helplessness. In peace or in war, in prosperity or in misery, they never gave up the struggle. Their right to lead their people and to rule their country they never yielded for a moment. It is true that sometimes they submitted to the superior power of the enemy and accepted a position of sub- ordination, though in one case, at least, even this was done only for a short time under the Moguls. In the darker days of Indian history, when the military devastation of foreign invaders left nothing but tears and blood, ruin and ashes, defeat and misery in their track, these houses kept the lamp of hope burning. For full ten centuries they carried on a struggle of life and death, sometimes momentarily succumbing before the overwhelming force of their adversaries, but only to rise again in fresh vigor and life to reclaim their heritage and preserve their own and their country's independence. The Sessodias of Mewar called the Ranas of Mewar (Udaipur) and the Rahtores of Marwar (including Jodhpur, Bikaner, Rutlam, Kishangarh and Alwar) have written many a glorious page of Mediaeval Indian history and dyed it with their own blood as well as that of their adversaries. Not only their men but their women have made themselves immortal by their bravery, chivalry, purity and self-immolation. The one thing which distinguishes the Indian Rajput from the peoples of other lands is that he has never waged war against the poor, the helpless and the defenceless. Numberless men gave their lives freely and ungrudgingly not only in protecting the lives of their own women and children but also in doing the same service to the lOO THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA women and children of their enemies. The Rajput never fought an unfair fight. He never took advantage of the helplessness of his enemy and always gave him right of way and the use of his best weapons for a free and fair fight in the open. Anyone desirous of knowing their deeds may read them in that poem in prose, known as the Annals of Rajhasthan by Col. Todd. Col. Todd has drawn a most faithful and thrilHng picture of Rajput bravery and Rajput chivalry in a language worthy of the best traditions of English literature. Here and there in matters of minor details his authority has been questioned; otherwise the results of his monumental labors still remain the best picture of Rajput India. The Rajput States of India are thus the objects of reverent honor to the 220 million Hindus of that country. Next to the Rajput States comes the native ruling family of Mysore as the representative of a very ancient Hindu Kingdom. The Mahratta States are the remnants of the Mahratta Empire and the Sikhs those of the Sikh Commonwealth. The biggest of all the Indian Native States, Hyderabad, arose out of the ruins of the Mogul Empire and is supposed to be the most powerful guardian of Moslem culture and tradition. From this description the reader will at once see why the Native States are so dear to the peoples of India and why the Indian edu- cated party has always stood by the Native States, whenever either their treaty rights or the personal dignity and status of their chiefs was threatened by the British authorities. Lord Dalhousie's policy of annexation by lapse was so much resented by the people of India that it had almost cost the British their Indian Empire. Only in the Native States do THE NATIVE STATES , lOI the Indians see remaining traces of their former inde- pendence. That fact alone covers all the defects of native rule or misrule in the States, in their eyes. Some of these Native States have been so well admin- istered that in education, social reform and industrial advancement they are far ahead of the neighboring British territories. But their chief merit lies in the fact that ordinarily the people get enough food to eat and are seemingly happier than British subjects. This fact has been noticed by several competent observers of contemporary Indian life, among them the Right Honorable Mr. Fisher, President of the Board of Education in England. In his book The Empire and the Future he has observed: "My impression is that the inhabitants of a well governed native state are on the whole happier and more contented than the inhabitants of British India. They are more lightly taxed; the pace of the administration is less urgent and exacting; their sentiment is gratified by the splendor of a native court and by the dominion of an Indian government. They feel that they do things for themselves instead of having everything done for them by a cold and alien benevolence." (Italics are ours) But after all that is favourable to the Native States of India has been said, their existence in their present form remains a political anomaly. As at present situated, they are an effective hindrance to complete Indian unity. Although ''India is in fact as well as by legal definition, one geographical whole," yet these Native States, occupying about one-third of the total area of the country and with a population of about 70 million will, for a long time, prevent its becoming I02 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA a homogeneous political whole. Thus a circumstance which was hitherto looked upon as a piece of good luck will operate as a misfortune. ''The Native States of India are about 700 in number. They embrace the widest variety of country and jurisdiction. They vary in size from petty States like Rewa, in Rajputana, with an area of 19 square miles, and the Simla Hill States, which are little more than small holdings, to States like Hyderabad, as large as Italy, with a population of thirteen milUons." ^ The general position as regards the rights and obligations of the Native States has been thus summed up by the distinguished authors of the joint Report (Lord Chelmsford and Mr. Montagu): "The States are guaranteed security from without; the paramount power acts for them in relation to foreign powers and other States, and it intervenes when the internal peace of their territories is seriously threatened. On the other hand the States' relations to foreign powers are those of the paramount power; they share the obligation for the common defence; and they are under a general responsibility for the good government and welfare of their territories." As regards the assimilation of the principles of modern life, it is remarked in the same document: "Many of them have adopted our civil and criminal codes. Some have imitated and even further extended our educational system. . . . They have not all been equally able to assimilate new principles. They are in all stages of development, patriarchal, feudal or more advanced, while in a few states are found the beginnings of representative institutions. The char- acteristic features of all of them, however, including 1 The Indian Year Book for 1918, p. 81. THE NATIVE STATES I03 the most advanced, are the personal rule of the Prince and his control over legislation and the administration of justice." Under the circumstances the question of questions is how these territories are going to fall into line with the British controlled area in the matter of the develop- ment of responsible Government. We will once more quote the opinion of the Secretary of State for India and the Viceroy, who say: "We know that the States cannot be unaffected by constitutional development in adjoining provinces. Some of the more enlightened and thoughtful of the Princes, among whom are included some of the best known names, have realised this truth, and have them- selves raised the question of their own share in any scheme of reform. Others of the Princes — again including some of the most honored names — desire only to leave matters as they are. We feel the need for caution in this matter. It would be a strange reward for loyalty and devotion to force new ideas upon those who did not desire them; but it would be no less strange, if out of consideration for those who perhaps represent gradually vanishing ideas, we were to refuse to consider the suggestions of others who have been no less loyal and devoted. Looking ahead to the future we can picture India to ourselves only as presenting the external semblance to some form of 'federation.' The provinces will ultimately become self-governing units, held together by the central Government which will deal solely with matters of common concern to all of them. But the matters common to the British provinces are also to a great extent those in which the Native States are interested — defence, tariffs, exchange, opium, salt, railways and posts and telegraphs. The gradual concentration of the Government of India upon such matters will therefore make it easier for the States, while retaining 104 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA the autonomy which they cherish in internal matters, to enter into closer association with the central Govern- ment if they wish to do so. But though we have no hesitation in forecasting such a development as possible, the last thing that we desire is to attempt to force the pace. Influences are at work which need no artificial stimulation. All that we need or can do is to open the door to the natural developments of the future." In Paragraphs 302 to 305 the authors of the Report state the process by which this development may be expedited. Disavowing any intention of forcibly altering treaty rights, they propose to classify the States into (a) those that have "full authority over their internal affairs^" (b) those "in which Government exercises through its Agents large powers of internal control," (c) those who are really no more "than mere owners of a few acres of land." It is further pointed out that hitherto the *' general clause which occurs in many of the treaties to the eSect that the Chief shall remain absolute Ruler of his country has not in the past precluded and does not even now preclude 'interference with the admin- istration by Government through the agency of its representatives at the Native Courts.' We need hardly say that such interference has not been employed in wanton disregard of treaty obligations. During the earlier days of our intimate relations with the States British agents found themselves compelled, often against their will, to assume responsibility for the welfare of the people, to restore order out of chaos, to prevent inhuman practices, and to guide the hands of a weak or incompetent Ruler as the only alternative to the termination of his rule. So too, at the present day, the Government of India acknowledges as trustee, a responsibility (which the Princes themselves desire THE NATIVE STATES I05 to maintain) for the proper administration of States during a minority, and also an obligation for the prevention or correction of flagrant misgovernment." And also that: *'the position hitherto taken up by Government has been that the conditions under which some of the treaties were executed have undergone material changes, and the literal fulfilment of particular obligations which they impose has become impracticable. Practice has been based on the theory that treaties must be read as a whole, and that they must be interpreted in the light of the relation established between the parties not only at the time when a particular treaty was made, but subsequently." On these grounds it is proposed to establish a Council of Princes to which questions which affect the States generally or are of concern to the Empire as a whole, or to British India and the States in common, may be referred for advice and opinion. So long as the Princes do not intervene either formally or informally in the internal affairs of British India, we have no objection to the scheme. On the other hand, we do hope some method will be found by which, with the consent of the parties interested the smaller principalities scattered all over the country may, for administrative purposes, be merged either in the British area or in the bigger Native States which possess full power of autonomy over their internal affairs. In the long run it will be comparatively easy to convert the latter to an acceptance of the modern principles of government if the number of Native States is reduced and their people achieve that soHdarity which comes by com- munity of interests and ideas. In this connection it is a happy augury for the future that some of the Io6 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA highest Chiefs like those of Mysore, Baroda, Gwaliar, Indore, Kashmir, Bikaner, Jodhpore, Alwar, and Patiala are alive to the importance of marching with the times. The people of British India owe them a great debt of gratitude for the moral support they have given to their claim for responsible Government by coming out openly and freely in favour of the proposed advance. We are sure that these Princes will in due time take measures to bring their own territories in line with the British provinces and thus strengthen the ties that bind them to their own peoples as well as to the other people of India. After all, there can be no manner of doubt, as the authors of the report predict, *'that the processes at work in British India cannot leave the States untouched and must in time affect even those whose ideas and institutions are of the most conservative and feudal character." It is the path of wisdom and sagacity to recognise the world forces that are at work. No amount of ancient prestige can prevent the people from coming into their own. The age of despotism is gone and the autocrats of today must sooner or later hand over their powers to the people. The more they conciliate them the longer perhaps they may be able to lead them. They may continue as leaders for a long time, but as autocratic dispensers of favours and fortunes they cannot remain, perhaps not even for their life time. In our judgment this part of the Montagu- Chelmsford Report is no less important for the future of Indian democracy than the others that directly deal with THE NATIVE STATES IO7 British India, and we hope that whatever might be the policy as regards the existing States the new law will make it impossible for the Government of India and the Secretary of State to create any new States in the future. It is monstrous to transfer milHons of human beings from one kind of political rule to another like so many cattle, as was done in 191 1. The present rule of any Indian Maharaja may be as good or as bad as that of a British Governor or Lieutenant Governor, but the latter has in it greater democratic potentialities than the former, for the mere fact, if for no other, that, while the British are more or less amenable to world opinion, the rulers of Native States are not. It is inhuman, and not in accord with modern ideas of right and wrong to reward somebody's loyalty by giving him power of life and death over numerous fellow beings, otherwise than in due course of law. Even the mighty British Government is not the owner of the bodies and souls of its subjects in India. How, then, can it assume the right of abandoning them to the absolute rule of a single individual, however worthy or loyal he may be? We hope this stupid way of rewarding loyal services may be ended by an express provision to that effect in the statute which will be passed relating to the reorganization of the Government of India. In this connection the following observations made in a leading editorial of the Servant of India, Poona (February 16, 1919), are worthy of attention: "A hundred years ago, it was decidedly in the interests of British rule, and probably also in the interests of the people of India generally, that the small, ill-governed, and eternally fighting states of India Io8 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA should come under the suzerainty of a single powerful power. It may be regarded as a historical misfortune that this power happened then to be foreign, though many regard this contact with a virile civilization as the making of India. This suzerainty could then be established duly by entering into treaties with these states and guaranteeing them certain rights and privi- leges. But these treaties have now assumed in the eyes of the descendants of the original princes an air of inspiration; they have become a kind of perpetuity. They always come in the way of any improvement. When any new policy is proposed to them, they are always prepared to say, 'This is not in the bond.' One may be allowed to speculate as to how many of these Highnesses would have survived to this day to put forward this claim in the absence of the suzerain power. Thrones in ancient days were as unstable as they are becoming now in Europe. It is hardly possible that the present popular wave in Europe would not have touched our Native States. The subjects of the states would have clamoured for a recognition of their rights, and they would have had their way. But now the princes feel quite secure. Have they not got their treaties? As a result there is no political life at all in the Native States. The most ardent advocate of Home Rule would be most violently against migration to a Native State. The real problem of the Native States is how to get over the treaties when they conflict with the interests of their subjects. The questions discussed at the Chiefs' Conference leave us comparatively cold, as they entirely neglect the people most concerned. The questions of the rights of the chiefs and their salutes or precedence THE NATIVE STATES I09 are in our opinion of a very secondary importance. A renowned statesman in Europe gave at the utmost a life of a dozen years to the most solemn treaty between two countries, for in that period circumstances alter and the solid foundation for the treaty cracks. Is it not high time that the treaties with the chiefs should be revised after over a hundred years? It would indeed redound to their credit if the chiefs them- selves come forward to submit to such readjustment. Perhaps their autocratic and irresponsible power may have to suffer some diminution. But if they consent to that diminution so as to give it to their subjects in the modern democratic spirit, the real power and influence of the Native States will increase incalculably. It is in this direction we wish to see a solution of the problem of the Native States which are nowadays working as a brake on our national progress." r X THE PROPOSALS There are epochs in the history of the world when in a few raging years the character, the destiny, of the whole race is determined for unknown ages. This is one. David Lloyd George "Sowing the Winter Wheat." Speech delivered at Carnarvon, to a meeting of constituents, after becoming Prime Mm- ister, February 3, 191 7. Part II of the Report contains the scheme which Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford propose for the solution of the problem which they had set themselves to solve in Part I. In giving their reasons for a new policy they observe: "iVo further development {on old lines) is possible unless we are going to give the people of India some responsibility for their own government. But no one can imagine that no further development is necessary. It is evident that the present machinery of government no longer meets the needs of the time; it works slowly and it produces irritation; there is a widespread demand on the part of educated Indian opinion for its altera- tion; and the need for advance is recognised by official opinion also." [Italics are ours.] The new policy sketched by them is, in their judg- ment, "the logical outcome of the past. Indians no THE PROPOSALS III must be enabled, in so far as they attain responsibility, to determine for themselves what they want done ". . . such limitations on powers as we are now proposing are due only to the obvious fact that time is necessary in order to train both representatives and electorates for the work which we desire them to undertake; and that we offer Indians opportunities at short intervals to prove the progress they are making and to make good their claim, not by the method of agitation but by positive demonstration, to the further stages in self-government which we have just indi- cated." That is the only basis on which they maintain they can hope to see in India '^the growth of a conscious feeling of organic unity with the Empire as a whole." With these and a few more prefatory remarks about the educational problem and the attitude of the ryot and the enunciation of the general principles on which their proposals are based they proceed to formulate their scheme, starting first with the provinces. The proposals relating to Provincial Government may be noticed under the following heads: (a) Financial devolution: It is proposed that hence- forth there should be a complete separation of the provincial finances from those of the Government of India; that, reserving certain sources of revenue for the Government of India, all others should be made over to the Provincial Governments with the proviso that the first charge on all Provincial revenues will be a contribution towards the maintenance of the Govern- ment of India, considered necessary and demanded 112 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA by the latter. A certain amount of power to impose fresh taxes and to raise loans is also conceded to the provincial Governments subject to the veto of the Government of India. (b) Legislative devolution: ''It is our intention," say the authors of the report, "to reserve to the Govern- ment of India a general overriding power of legislation for the discharge of all functions which it will have to perform. It should be enabled under this power to intervene in any province for the protection and enforcement of the interests for which it is responsible; to legislate on any provincial matter in respect of which uniformity of legislation is desirable, either for the whole of India or for any two or more provinces; and to pass legislation which may be adopted either simpliciter or with modifications by any province which may wish to make use of it. We think that the Government of India must be the sole judge of the propriety of any legislation which it may undertake under any one of these categories, and that its com- petence so to legislate should not be open to challenge in the courts. Subject to these reservations we intend that within the field which may be marked off for provincial legislative control the sole legislative power shall rest with the provincial legislatures." It is not proposed to put a statutory limitation on the power of the Government of India to legislate for the provinces, but it is hoped that "constitutional practice" will prevent the central Government interfering in provincial matters unless the interests for which the latter is responsible are directly affected. (c) Provincial Executive: Article 220 gives the Governor the power to appoint "one or two additional THE PROPOSALS II3 members of his Government as members without portfolio for purposes of consultation and advice." These, in substance, are the proposals of the Secre- tary of State and the Government of India for the future government of the provinces into which India is divided. Some of these latter and some other tracts are expressly excluded from the operation of these recommendations. It will be at once observed that this is neither autonomy nor home rule. It is a kind of hybrid system with final powers of veto and control vested in the Government of India. The provision as to Provincial Legislatures make it still more complicated. "Let us now explain how we contemplate in future that the executive Governments of the provinces shall be constituted. As we have seen, three provinces are now governed by a Governor and an Executive Council of three members, of whom one is in practice an Indian and two are usually appointed from the Indian Civil Service, although the law says only that they must be qualified by twelve years' service under the Crown in India. One province, Bihar and Orissa, is administered by a Lieutenant-Governor with a council of three constituted in the same way. The remaining five provinces, that is to say, the three Lieutenant- Governorships of the United Provinces, the Punjab and Burma and the Chief Commissioner- ships of the Central Provinces and Assam are under the administration of a single official Head. We find throughout India a very general desire for the extension of Council government. . . . Our first proposition, therefore, is that in all these provinces singleheaded administration must cease and be re- placed by collective administration. "In determining the structure of the Executive we have to bear in mind the duties with which it will 114 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA be charged. We start with the two postulates; the complete responsibility for the government cannot be given immediately without inviting a breakdown, and that some responsibility must be given at once if our scheme is to have any value. We have defined responsibility as consisting primarily in amenability to constituents, and in the second place in amenability to an assembly. We do not believe that there is any way of satisfying these governing conditions other than by making a division of the functions of the Government, between those which may be made over to popular control and those which for the present must remain in official hands. . . . We may call these the 'reserved' and 'transferred' subjects respec- tively. It then follows that for the management of these two categories there must be some form of executive body, with a legislative organ in harmony with it. . . . "We propose therefore that in each province the executive Government should consist of two parts. One part would comprise the head of the province and an executive council of two members. In all provinces the head of the Government would be known as Governor. . . . One of the two Executive Councillors would in practice be a European qualified by long official experience, and the other would be an Indian. It has been urged that the latter should be an elected member of the provincial legislative council. It is unreasonable that choice should be so limited. It should be open to the Governor to recommend whom he wishes. . . . The Governor in council would have charge of the reserved subjects. The other part of the government would consist of one member or more than one member, according to the number and. importance of the transferred subjects, chosen by the Governor from the elected members of the Legislative council. They would be known as ministers. They would be members of the executive THE PROPOSALS II5 Government but not members of the Executive Coun- cil; they would be appointed for the life- time of the legislative council, and if reelected to that body would be re-eligible for appointment as members of the Executive. As we have said, they would not hold ofl&ce at the will of the legislature but at that of their constituents. "The portfolios dealing with the transferred sub- jects would be committed to the ministers, and on these subjects the ministers together with the Governor would form the administration. On such subjects their decision would be final, subject only to the Governor's advice and control. We do not con- template that from the outset the Governor should occupy the position of a purely constitutional Governor who is bound to accept the decisions of his ministers." (d) Provincial Legislatures: "We propose there shall be in each province an enlarged legislative council, differing in size and composition from province to province, with a substantial elected majority, elected by direct election on a broad franchise, with such communal and special representation as may be necessary." The questions of franchise and special and com- munal representation have been entrusted to a special committee the report of which is shortly expected. The same committee will also decide how many official members there will be on each Legislative Council. It is provided that the Governor shall be the President of the Council and will have the power to nominate a Vice-president from the official members. As to the effect of resolutions it is said that "we do not propose that resolutions, whether on reserved or transferred subjects should be binding." The classification of the reserved and transferred Il6 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA subjects was also left to a special committee which has since conclude;d its labours and whose report is awaited with interest. Legislation on reserved subjects: "For the purpose of enabling the provincial Govern- ment to get through its legislation on reserved subjects, we propose that the head of the Government should have power to certify that a Bill deahng with a reserved subject is a measure 'essential to the discharge of his responsibility for the peace or tranquiUity of the province or of any part thereof, or for the discharge of his responsibility for the reserved subjects.' . . . The Bill will be read and its general principles discussed in the full legislative council. It will at this stage be open to the council by a majority vote to request the Governor to refer to the Government of India, whose decision on the point shall be final, on the question whether the certified Bill deals with a reserved subject. If no such reference is made, or if the Government of India decide that the certificate has been properly given, the Bill will then be automatically referred to a Grand Committee of the council. Its composition should reproduce as nearly as possible the proportion of the various elements in the larger body. . . . the grand committee in every council should be constituted so as to comprise from 40 to 50 per cent, of its strength. It should be chosen for each Bill, partly by election by ballot, and partly by nomination. The Governor should have power to nominate a bare majority ex- clusive of himself. Of the members so nominated not more than two-thirds should be officials, and the elected element should be elected ad hoc by the elected members of the council on the system of the transferable vote." "On reference to the grand committee, the Bill will be debated by that body in the ordinary course, if necessary referred to a select committee, to which THE PROPOSALS 117 body we think that the grand committee should have power to appoint any member of the legislative council whether a member of the grand committee or not. The select committee will, as at present, have power to take evidence. Then, after being debated in the grand committee and modified as may be determined, the Bill will be reported to the whole council. The council will have the right to discuss the Bill again generally, but will not be able to reject it, or to amend it except on the motion of a member of the executive council. The Governor will then appoint a time limit within which the Bill may be debated in the council, and on its expiry it will pass automatically. But during such discussion the council will have the right to pass a resolution recording any objection which refers to the principle or details of the measure (but not, of course, to the certificate of its character), and any such resolution will accompany the Act when, after being signed by the Governor, it is submitted to the Governor General and the Secretary of State." Provincial Budget: . . . the provincial budget should be framed by the executive Government as a whole. The first charge on provincial revenues will be the contribution to the Government of India; and after that the supply for the reserved subjects will have priority. The allocation of supply for the transferred subjects will be decided by the ministers. If the revenue is insufiicient for their needs, the question of new taxation will be decided by the Governor and the ministers. We are bound to recognise that in time new taxation will be necessary, for no conceivable economies can finance the new developments which are to be anticipated. The budget will then be laid before the council which will discuss it and vote by resolution upon the allotments. If the legislative council rejects or modifies the proposed allotment for reserved subjects, the Governor should have power to insist on the whole or any part of the allotment orig- inally provided, if for reasons to be stated he certifies Il8 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA its necessity in the terms which we have already suggested. We are emphatically of opinion that the Governor in Council must be empowered to obtain the supply which he declares to be necessary for the discharge of his responsibilities. Except in so far as the Governor exercises this power the budget would be altered in accordance with the resolutions carried in council." Modification of the Scheme hy the Government of India. *' After five years' time from the first meeting of the reformed councils we suggest that the Government of India should hear applications from either the pro- vincial Government or the provincial council for the modification of the reserved and transferred lists of the province; and that, after considering the evidence laid before them, they should recommend for the approval of the Secretary of State the transfer of such further subjects to the transferred list as they think desirable. On the other hand, if it should be made plain to them that certain functions have been seriously maladministered, it will be open to them, with the sanction of the Secretary of State, to retransfer subjects from the transferred to the reserved list, or to place restrictions for the future on the minister's powers in respect of certain transferred subjects. . . . But it is also desirable to complete the responsibility of the ministers for the transferred subjects. This should come in one of two ways, either at the initiative of the council if it desires and is prepared to exercise greater control over the ministers, or at the discretion of the Government of India, which may wish to make this change as a condition of the grant of new, or of the maintainance of existing, powers. We propose, therefore, that the Government of India may, when hearing such applications, direct that the ministers' salaries, instead of any longer being treated as a reserved subject, and, therefore, protected in the last resort by the Governor's order from interference should be specifically voted each year by the legislative council; THE PPOPOSALS II9 or, failing such direction by the Government of India, it should be open to the councils at that time or subse- quently to demand by resolution that such ministers' salaries should be so voted, and the Government of India should thereupon give effect to such request." Periodic commissions: , . . Ten years after the first meeting of the new councils established under the Statute a commission should be appointed to review the position. Criticism has been expressed in the past of the composition of Royal Commissions, and it is our intention that the commission which we suggest should be regarded as authoritative and should derive its authority from Parliament itself. The names of the commissioners, therefore, should be submitted by the Secretary of State to both Houses of Parliament for approval by resolution. The commissioners' mandate should be to consider whether by the end of the term of the legislature then in existence it would be possible to establish complete responsible government in any province or provinces, or how far it would be possible to approximate it in others; to advise on the continued reservation of any departments for the transfer of which to popular control it has been proved to their satisfaction that the time had not yet come; to recom- mend the retransfer of other matters to the control of the Governor in Council if serious maladministration were established; and to make any recommendations for the working of responsible government or the improvement of the constitutional machinery which experience of the systems in operation may show to be desirable. . . . ''There are several other important matters, germane in greater or less degree to our main purpose, which the commission should review. They should investigate the progress made in admitting Indians into the higher ranks of the public service. They should examine the apportionment of the financial burden of India with a view to adjusting it more fairly between the provinces. The commission should also examine the I20 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA development of education among the people and the progress and working of local self-governing bodies. Lastly the commission should consider the working of the franchise and the constitution of electorates, including the important matter of the retention of communal representation. Indeed, we regard the development of a broad franchise as the arch on which the edifice of self-government must be raised; for we have no intention that our reforms should result merely in the transfer of powers from a bureaucracy to an oligarchy. ..." ''In proposing the appointment of a commission ten years after the new Act takes effect we wish to guard against possible misunderstanding. We would not be taken as implying that there can be established by that time complete responsible government in the provinces. In many of the provinces no such con- summation can follow in the time named. The pace will be everywhere unequal, though progress in one province will always stimulate progress elsewhere; but undue expectations might be aroused, if we indi- cated any opinion as to the degree of approximation to complete self-government that might be reached even in one or two of the most advanced provinces. The reasons that make complete responsibility at present impossible are likely to continue operative in some degree even after a decade." II The proposals regarding the Government of India called the Central Government may be thus summed up: (a) General: *'We have already made our opinion clear that pending the development of responsible government in the provinces the Government of India must remain responsible only to Parliament. In other words, in all matters which it judges to be essen- THE PROPOSALS 121 tial to the discharge of its responsibilities for peace, order, and good government it must, saving only for its accountability to Parliament, retain indisputable power." (b) The Governor GeneroTs Executive Council: ''We would therefore abolish such statutory restric- tions as now exist in respect of the appointment of Members of the Governor General's Council, so as to give greater elasticity both in respect to the size of the Government and the distribution of work." At present there is one Indian member in the Viceroy's Executive Council consisting of six ordinary members and one extraordinary besides the Viceroy. This scheme recommends the appointment of another Indian. (c) The Indian Legislative Council. I. Legislative Assembly: " We recommend therefore that the strength of the legislative council, to be known in future as the Legislative Assembly of India, should be raised to a total strength of about loo members, so as to be far more truly representative of British India. We propose that two-thirds of this total should be returned by election; and that one- third should be nominated by the Governor General, of which third not less than a third again should be non-officials selected with the object of representing minority or special interests. . . . Some special representation, we think, there must be, as for European and Indian commerce, and also for the large landlords. There should be also communal representation for Muham- madans in most provinces and also for Sikhs in the Punjab." II. The Council of State: "We do not propose to institute a complete bi-cameral system, but to create a second chamber, known as the Council of State, which shall take its part in ordinary legislative business and shall be the final legislative authority in matters 122 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA which the government regards as essential. The Council of State will be composed of 50 members, exclusive of the Governor General, who would be President, with power to appoint a Vice-President who would normally take his place: not more than 25 will be officials, including the members of the executive council, and 4 would be non-officials nominated by the Governor General. Official members would be eligible for nomination to both the Legislative Assembly and the Council of State. There would be 21 elected members of whom 15 will be returned by the non- official members of the provincial legislative councils, each council returning two members, other than those of Burma, the Central Provinces and Assam which will return one member each. . . . ''Inasmuch as the Council of State will be the supreme legislative authority for India on all crucial questions and also the revising authority upon all Indian legislation, we desire to attract to it the services of the best men available in the country. We desire that the Council of State should develop something of the experience and dignity of a body of Elder States- men; and we suggest therefore that the Governor General in Council should make regulations as to the qualification of candidates for election to that body which will ensure that their status and position and record of services will give to the Council a senatorial character, and the qualities usually regarded as appro- priate to a revising chamber." III. Legislative procedure: ''Let us now explain how this legislative machinery will work. It will make for clearness to deal separately with Government Bills and Bills introduced by non-official members. A Government Bill will ordinarily be introduced and carried through all the usual stages in the Legislative Assembly. It will then go in the ordinary course to the Council of State, and if there amended in any way which the Assembly is not willing to accept, it will be submitted to a joint session of both Houses, THE PROPOSALS 1 23 by whose decision its ultimate fate will be decided. This will be the ordinary course of legislation. But it might well happen that amendments made by the Council of State were such as to be essential in the view of the Government if the purpose with which the Bill was originally introduced was to be achieved, and in this case the Governor General in Council would certify that the amendments were essential to the interests of peace, order, or good government. The assembly would then not have power to reject or modify these amendments, nor would they be open to revision in a joint session. "We have to provide for two other possibilities. Cases may occur in which the Legislative Assembly refuses leave to the introduction of a Bill or throws out a Bill which the Government regarded as necessary. For such a contingency we would provide that if leave to introduce a Government Bill is refused, or if the Bill is thrown out at any stage, the Government should have the power, on the certificate of the Governor General in Council that the Bill is essential to the interests of peace, order, or good government, to refer it de novo to the Council of State; and if the Bill, after being taken in all its stages through the Council of State, was passed by that body, it would become law without further reference to the Assembly. Further, there may be cases when the consideration of a measure by both chambers would take too long if the emergency which called for the measure is to be met. Such a contingency should rarely arise; but we advise that in cases of emergency, so certified by the Governor General in Council, it should be open to the Govern- ment to introduce a Bill in the Council of State, and upon its being passed there merely to report it to the Assembly." IV. Powers of dissolution, etc.: ''The Governor General should in our opinion have power at any time to dissolve either the Legislative Assembly or the Council of State or both these bodies. It is perhaps 124 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OE INDIA unnecessary to add that the Governor General and the Secretary of State should retain their existing powers of assent, reservation, and disallowance to all Acts of the Indian legislature. The present powers of the Governor General in Council under section 71 of the Government of India Act. 191 5, to make regulations proposed by local Governments for the peace and good government of backward tracts of territory should also be preserved; with the modification that it will in future rest with the Head of the province concerned to propose such regulations to the Govern- ment of India." V. Fiscal legislation: "Fiscal legislation will, of course, be subject to the procedure which we have recommended in respect of Government Bills. The budget will be introduced in the Legislative Assembly but the Assembly will not vote it. Resolutions upon budget matters and upon all other questions, whether moved in the Assembly or in the Council of State, will continue to be advisory in character." (d) Privy Council: "We have a further recom- mendation to make. We would ask that His Majesty may be graciously pleased to approve the institution of a Privy Council for India. . . . The Privy CounciFs ofiice would be to advise the Governor General when he saw fit to consult it on questions of policy and administration." (e) Periodic commissions: "At the end of the last chapter we recommended that ten years after the institution of our reforms, and again at intervals of twelve years thereafter, a commission approved by Parliament should investigate the working of the changes introduced into the provinces, and recommend as to their further progress. It should be equally the duty of the commission to examine and report upon the new constitution of the Government of India, with particular reference to the working of the machinery for representation, the procedure by certificate, and the results of joint sessions." THE PROPOSALS ni India Office in London 125 The principal proposals under this head may be thus mmarized ; summarized; "We advise that the Secretary of State's salary, like that of all other Ministers of the Crown, should be defrayed from home revenues and voted annually by Parliament. This will enable any live questions of Indian administration to be discussed by the House of Commons in Committee of Supply. ... It might be thought to follow that the whole charges of the India Office establishment should similarly be trans- ferred to the home Exchequer; but this matter is complicated by a series of past transactions, and by the amount of agency work which the India Office does on behalf of the Government of India; and we advise that our proposed committee upon the India Office organization should examine it and taking these fac- tors into consideration, determine which of the vari- ous India Office charges should be so transferred, and which can legitimately be retained as a burden on Indian revenues. ''But the transfer of charges which we propose, although it will give reality to the debates on Indian affairs, will not ensure in Parliament a better informed or a more sustained interest in India. We feel that this result can only be accomplished by appointing a Select Committee of Parliament on Indian affairs." The above in substance is the proposed scheme. In India it has met with varied response. The Euro- pean community does not approve of it. They think it is too radical. The European Services have struck a note of rebellion threatening to resign in case of its acceptance by Parhament. The Indian poHticians 126 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA are divided into two camps. Their views are best represented by the following tabular statement which we reproduce from the Indian newspapers. A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE RESOLUTIONS RE- LATING TO THE REFORM PROPOSALS PASSED Ordinary Rights of Citizens By the Special Congress Resolution IV. The Govern- ment of India shall have un- divided administrative authority on matters directly concerning peace, tranquilUty and defence of the country subject to the following: That the Statute to be passed by ParHament should include the Declaration of the Rights of the people of India as British citizens: (a) That aU Indian subjects of his Majesty and all^ the subjects naturalized or resident in India are equal before the law, and there shall be no penal nor administrative law in force in the country whether substan- tive or procedural of a discrimi- native nature. (b) That no Indian subject of his Majesty shall be Hable to suffer in Uberty, hfe, property or of association, free speech or in respect of writing, except imder sentence by an ordinary Court of Justice, and as a result of a lawful and open trial. (c) That every Indian sub- ject shall be entitled to bear arms, subject to the purchase of a licence, as in Great Britain, and that the right shall not be taken away save by a sentence gf an ordinary Court of Justice. By the Moderate Conference (V) This Conference urges that legislation of an exceptional character having the effect of curtailing ordinary rights such as the freedom of the press and public meetings and open judi- cial trial, should not be carried through the Council of State alone, or in spite of the declared opinion of the Legislative As- sembly of India, except in a time of war or internal disturb- ance, without the approval of the Select Committee of the House of Commons proposed to be set up under the Scheme unless such legislation is of a temporary character and limited to a period of one year only, the said legislation being in any case made renewable without such approval in the last resort. lO (c) All racial inequalities in respect of trial by jury, the rules made under the Arms Act, etc. should be removed and the latter should be so amended as to provide for the possession and carrying of arms by Indians imder liberal conditions. (d) A complete separation of judicial and executive func- tions of all district officers should be made, at least in all THE PROPOSALS 127 (d) That the Press shall be free, and that no Ucence nor security shall be demanded on the registration of a press or a newspaper. (e) That corporal punish- ment shall not be inflicted on any Indian serving in his Maj- esty's Army or Navy save under conditions applying equally to all other British subjects. major provinces, at once, and the judiciary placed under the jurisdiction of the highest court of the province. Fiscal Autonomy Resolution V. This Congress is strongly of opinion that it is essential for the welfare of the Indian people that the Indian Legislature should have the same measure of fiscal autonomy which the self-governing domin- ions of the Empire possess. (VI) Saving such equal and equitable Imperial obligations as may be agreed upon as resting on all parts of the Empire, the Government of India, acting under the control of the Legisla- ture, should enjoy the same power of regulating the fiscal policy of India as the Govern- ments of the self-governing dominions enjoy of regulating their fiscal poUcy. Reform Proposals Resolution VI. That this Congress appreciates the earnest attempt on the part of the Right Hon. the Secretary of State and his Excellency the Viceroy to inaugurate a system of responsi- ble government in India, and, while it recognizes that some of the proposals constitute an advance on the present condi- tions in some directions, it is of opinion that the proposals are as a whole disappointing and unsatisfactory, and suggests the following modifications as abso- lutely necessary to constitute a substantial step towards re- sponsible government: (III) 'This Conference cor- dially welcomes the Reform Proposals of the Secretary of State and the Viceroy of India as constituting a distinct advance on present conditions as regards the Government of India and the Provincial Governments and also a real step towards the progressive realization of "re- sponsible government" in the Provincial Government in due fulfillment of the terms of the announcement of August 20, igiy. As such this Conference accords its hearty support to those proposals, and, while sug- gesting necessary modifications and improvements therein, ex- presses its grateful appreciation 128 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA of the earnest effort of Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford to start the country on a career of genuine and lasting progress towards the promised goal.' (V) 'This Conference regards all attempts at the condemnation or rejection of the Reform Scheme as a whole as ill advised, and in particular protests em- phatically against the reaction- ary attitude assumed towards it by the Indo-British Association and some European pubUc bodies in this country which is certain to produce, if successfully per- 1 sisted in, an extremely undesir- able state of feeling between England and India and imperil the cause of ordered progress in this country. This Conference, therefore, most earnestly urges his Majesty's Government and •V Parliament of the United King- dom to give effect to the provi- sions of the Scheme and the suggestion of its supporters in regard thereto as early as possible by suitable legislation. Government of India (i) That a system of reserved (V) (a) 'This Conference, and transferred subjects similar while making due allowance for to that proposed for the prov- the necessities or drawbacks of inces, shall be adopted for the transitional scheme, urges that, Central Government. having regard to the terms of (2) That the reserved sub- the announcement of August jects shall be foreign affairs 20, 191 7, and in order that the (excepting relations with the progress of India towards the colonies and dominions) army, goal of a self-governing unit of navy, and relations with Indian the British Empire may be Ruling Princes, and subject to facilitated and not unduly de- the declaration of rights con- layed or hampered, as also with tained in resolution IV, the a view to avoid the untoward matters directly affecting public consequences of a legislature peace, tranquiUity and defence containing a substantially elected of the country, and all other popular element being allowed subjects shall be transferred merely to indulge in criticism subjects* iinchecked by responsibility, it THE PROPOSALS 129 (3) The allotments required for reserved subjects should be the first charge on the revenues. (4) The procedure for the adoption of the budget should be on the lines laid down for the provinces. (5) All legislation should be by Bills introduced into the Legislative Assembly, provided that, if, in the case of reserved subjects, the Legislative Council does not pass such measures as the Government may deem necessary, the Governor General- in-Council may provide for the same by regulations, such regula- tions to be in force for one year but not to be renewed unless 40 per cent, of the members of the Assembly present and voting are in favour of them. (6) There shall be no Council of State, but if the Council of State is to be constituted, at least half of its total strength shall consist of elected members, and that procedure by certifica- tion shall be confined to the reserved subjects. (7) At least half the number of Executive Councillors (if there be more than one) in charge of reserved subjects should be Indians. (8) The number of members of the Legislative Assembly should be raised to 150 and the proportion of the elected mem- bers should be four-fifths. (g) The President and the Vice-President of the Legislative Assembly should be elected by the Assembly. (10) The Legislative Assem- bly should have power to make or modify its own rules of business and they shall not require the sanction of the Governor General. is essential that the principle of responsible government' should be introduced also in the Govern- ment of India, simultaneously with a similar reform in the provinces. There should, there- fore, be a division of functions in the Central Government into 'reserved' and 'transferred' as a part of the present instalment of reforms and the Committee on division of functions should be instructed to investigate the subject and make recommenda- tions. (b) While, as suggested above, some measures of transfer of power to the Indian Legisla- ture should be introduced at the commencement, provision should be made for future progress towards complete responsible government of the Government of India by specifically authoriz- ing the proposed periodic Com- missions to inquire into the matter and to recommend to ParHament such further advance as may be deemed necessary or desirable in that behalf. (c) The power of certification given to the Governor- General should be limited to matters involving the defence of the country's foreign and political relations, and peace and order and should not be extended to 'good government' generally or 'sound financial administration.' (e) This Conference recom- mends that the composition of the Council of State should be so altered as to ensure that one half of its total strength shall consist of elected members. (f) The Indian element in the Executive Government of India should be one-half of the total number of that Govera- ment. 130 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA (ii) There shall be an obliga- tion to convene meetings of the Council and Assembly at stated intervals, or on the requistion of a certain proportion of members. (12) A statutory guarantee should be given that full re- sponsible government should be estabUshed in the whole of British India vsdthin a period not exceeding 15 years. (13) That there should be no Privy Council for the present. Provincial Governments 1. There should be no addi- tional members of the Executive Government without portfolios. 2. From the commencement of the first Council the principle of responsibility of the ministers to the legislature shall come into force. 3. The status and salary of the ministers shall be the same as that of the members of Executive Council. 4. At least half the number of Executive Councillors in charge of reserved subjects (if there be more than one) should be Indians. 5. The Budget shall be under the control of the Legislature subject to the contribution to the Government of India, and during the Hfe-time of the reformed Councils, to the alloca- tion of a fixed sum for the re- served subjects; and should fresh taxation be necessary, it should be imposed by the pro- vincial Governments, as a whole for both transferred and reserved subjects. Legislature I. While holding that the people are ripe for the introduc- (e) The proposal to appoint an additional Member or Mem- bers from among the senior officials, without portfolios and without vote for purposes of consultation and advice only, but as Members of the Executive Government, in the provinces should be dropped. (i) (a) The status and emolu- ments of Ministers should be identical with those of Executive Councillors, and the Governor should not have greater power of control over them than over the latter. (b) Whatever power may be given to the Go vernor-in- Council to interfere with the decisions of the Governor and Ministers on the ground of their possible effects on the administration of the reserved subjects, corre- sponding power should be given to the Governor and Ministers in respect of decisions of the Governor-in-Council affecting directly or indirectly the ad- ministration of the transferred subjects. (d) Heads of provincial Governments in the major prov- inces should ordinarily be THE PROPOSALS 131 tion of full provincial autonomy the Congress is yet prepared with a view to faciHtating the passage of the Reforms, to leave the departments of Law, Police and Justice, (prisons excepted) in the hands of the Executive Government in all provinces for a period of six years. Executive and Judicial Departments must be separated at once. 2. The President and the Vice-President should be elected by the Council. ^ 3. That the proposal to in- stitute a Grand Committee shall be dropped. The Provincial Legislative Council shall legis- late in respect of all matters within the jurisdiction of pro- vincial Government, including Law, Justice and Police but where the Government is not satisfied with the decision of the Legislative Council in respect of matters relating to Law, Justice and PoUce, it shall be open to the Government to refer the matter to the Govern- ment of India. The Govern- ment of India may refer the matter to the Indian Legislature and the ordinary procedure shall follow. But if Grand Com- mittees are instituted, this Con- gress is of opinion, that not less than one-half of the strength shall be elected by the Legisla- tive Assembly. 4. The proportion of elected members in the Legislative Council shall be four fifths. Elections 5. Whenever the Legislative Assembly, the Council of State, or the Legislative Council is dissolved, it shall be obligatory selected from the ranks of public men in the United Kingdom. (e) No administrative con- trol over subjects vested in provincial Governments should be 'reserved' in the central Government particularly in re- spect of 'transferred' heads. (f) The Government of India should have no power to make a supplementary levy upon the provinces; they may only take loans from the latter on occasions of emergency. (2) This Conference recom- mends that the largest possible number of subjects should be included in the 'transferred' list in every province as the progress and conditions of each province may justify and that none mentioned in the Illustra- tive List No. II appended to the Report should, as far as possible, be 'reserved' in any province. IX (c) The Legislative Coun- cils should have the right to elect their own Presidents and Vice-Presidents. VIII (b) The elected element in the Provincial Legislative Councils should be four-fifths of the total strength of the Councils at least in the more advanced provinces. IX. I (a) It should be pro- vided that when a CouncU is dissolved by the Governor, a fresh election should be held and the new Council summoned not later than four months after the dissolution. VIII (a) The Franchise should be as wide and the composition of the Legislative Council should be as liberal as circumstances may admit in each province, the number of representatives of the general territorial electorates 1^2 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA on the Government as the case may be, to order the necessary elections, and to resummon the body dissolved within a period of three months from the date of dissolution. 6. The Legislative Assembly should have power to make or modify its own rules of business and they shall not require the sanction of the Governor-Gen- eral. 7. There should be an obliga- tion to convene meetings of the Coimcil and Assembly at stated intervals, or on the requisition of a certain proportion of members of the Assembly. 8. No dissolution of the legislature shall take place except by way of an appeal to the electorate and the reason shall be stated in writing counter- signed by the Ministers. being fixed in every case at not less than one-half of the whole covmcil. (c) The franchise should be so broad and the electorates so devised as to secure to all classes of tax-payers their due represen- tation by election and the interests of those communities or groups of communities in Madras and the Bombay Deccan and elsewhere who at present demand special electoral protec- tion should be adequately safe- guarded by introducing a system of plural constituencies in which a reasonable number of seats should be reserved for those communities. (e) In the case of any com- munity for which separate special electorates may be deemed at present necessary, participation in the general territorial elec- torates, whether as voters or candidates, should not be per- mitted. (f) It shall be left to the option of an individual belonging to a community which is given separate representation to enrol himself as a voter either in the general or the communal elec- torate. Parliament and India Office (e) The control of Parlia- ment and of the Secretary of State must only be modified as the responsibility of the Indian and provincial Governments to the electorates is increased. No power over provincial Govern- ments now exercised by Parlia- ment and by the Secretary of State must be transferred to the Government of India, save in matters of routine administra- (XI) This Conference, while generally approving of the pro- posals embodied in the Report regarding the India Office and Parliamentary control, urges: — (a) That the adrmnistrative control of Parliament over the Government of India exercised through the Secretary of State should continue except in so far as the control of the legislature on the spot is substituted for THE PROPOSALS 133 tion until the latter is responsible to the electorates. (d) No financial or adminis- trative powers in regard to reserved subjects should be transferred to the provincial Governments until such time as they are made responsible regard- ing them to electorates, and until then the control of ParUament and the Secretary of State should continue. (b) The Council of India shall be abohshed, and there shall be two permanent Under- secretaries to assist the Secretary of State for India, one of whom shall be an Indian. (c) All charges in respect to the India Office establishment shall be placed on the British estimates. (d) The committee to be appointed to examine and report on the present constitution of the Council of India shall con- tain an adequate Indian element. the present Parliamentary con- trol. (d) That until the India Council can be abolished by substituting Indian control for the control of Parliament over the affairs of India, it should be a mere advisory body with its strength reduced to 8 members, four of whom should be Indians. (c) That at least a major part of the cost of the India Ofl&ce should be borne by the British Exchequer. (b) That Indian opinion should be represented on the Committee appointed to report upon the organisation of the India Office and the evidence of Indian witnesses invited. Mahomedan Representation Resolution VII. The propor- tion of Mahomedans in the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly as laid down in the Congress-League Scheme must be maintained. (VIII) (d) Mahomedan repre- sentation in every legislature should be in the proportions mentioned in the Scheme adopted by the Congress and the Muslim League at Lucknow in 1916. Army Commissions Resolution XII. This Con- gress places on record its deep disappointment at the altogether inadequate response made by the Government to the demand for the grant of commissions to Indians in the army, and is of opinion that steps should be immediately taken so as to enable the grant to Indians at (b) This Conference strongly urges that Indians should be nominated to 20 per cent., to start with, of King's commissions in the Indian Army and that adequate provision for training them should be made in this country itself. 134 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA an early date of at least 25 per cent, of the commissions in the army, the proportions to be gradually increased to 50 per cent, within a period of ten years. Public Services Resolution XVII. That this Congress is of opinion that the proportion of annual recruit- ment to the Indian civil service to be made in England should be 50 per cent, to start with, such recruitment to be by open competition in India from per- sons already appointed to the Provincial Civil Service. X (a) This Conference thanks the Secretary of State and the Viceroy for recommending that all racial bars should be aboUshed and for recognizing the principle of recruiting of all the Indian pubUc services in India and in England instead of any service being recruited for exclusively in the latter country. Franchise for Women Resolution VIII. Women possessing the same qualifica- tions as are laid down for men in any part of the Scheme shall not be disqualified on account of sex. Constitution of Councils Resolution XIII. That, so far as the question of determin- ing the franchise and the con- stituence and the composition of the Legislative Assemblies is concerned, this Congress is of opinion that, instead of being left to be dealt with by Com- mittees, it should be decided by the House of Commons and be incorporated in the statute to be framed for the constitution of the Indian Government. Resolution XIV. That as regards the Committee to advise on the question of the separation of Indian from provincial func- tions and also with regard to the Committee if any for the con- constitution of periodic Commission 9 (b) Some provision should be made for the appointment and cooperation of quaUfied Indians on the periodic commission pro- posed to be appointed every ten or twelve years and it should further be provided that the first periodic commission shall come to India and submit its recommendations to ParUament before the expiry of the third Legislative Council after the Reform Scheme comes into operation and that every subse- quent periodic commission should be appointed at the end of every ten years. THE PROPOSALS I35 sideration of reserved or an un- reserved department, this Con- gress is of opinion that the principle set forth in the above resolution should apply mutatis mutandis to the formation of the said Committee. Or In the alternative; if a Com- mittee is appointed for the purpose, the two non-official members of the Committee should be elected — one by the All-India Congress Committee and the other by the Council of the Moslem League while the coopted non-oflBicial for each province should be elected by the Provincirl Congress Com- mittee of that province. The All-India Muslim League is in substantial accord with the resolutions of the Special Congress. It will be easily seen that Indian opinion, of both Hindus and Mussulmans, is substantially in accord in their demands for the democratization of the Central government and in their criticism of the rest of the scheme. The Indians have thus exercised their right of self-determination through their popular bodies and are entitled to get what they demand. After all, what they ask for is only a modest instalment of autonomy under British control. In the appendices the reader will find a comparative table showing (a) the present Constitution of Govern- ment in India (b) the proposals of the Secretary of State and the Viceroy (c) and the Congress League Scheme. XI INDIA'S CLAIM TO FISCAL AUTONOMY ^'INDUSTRIES AND TARIFFS" .... for equality of right amongst nations, small as well as great, is one of the fundamental issues this country and her allies are fighting to establish in this war. David Lloyd George "The War Aims of the AlHes." Speech delivered to delegates of the Trade Unions, at the Central Hall, Westminster, Janu- ary 5, 1918. I beg to record my strong opinion that in the matter of Indian industries we are bound to consider Indian interests firstly, secondly, and thirdly. I mean by ''firstly" that the local raw products should be util- ised, by secondly, that industries should be introduced and by "thirdly" that the profits of such industry should remain in the country. Sir Frederick Nicholson Quoted on page 300, Report of the Indian Industrial Commission, 19 16-19 18. Economic bondage is the worst of all bondages. Economic dependence, or the lack of economic inde- pendence, is the source of all misery, individual or 136 CLAIM TO FISCAL AUTONOMY 13 7 national. A person economically dependent upon another is a virtual slave, despite appearances. He who supplies food and raiment and the necessities of life is the real master. The desire for gain dominates the world and all its activities. Even reHgion, as ordinarily understood, interpreted and administered, is a game of pounds and shillings, say what one may to the contrary. There are exceptions to this statement, but they are few and far between. The world does not subsist by bread alone, but without bread it cannot exist even for a minute. The generality of the world cares more for bread than for anything else, though there are individuals and groups of individuals who would not stoop to obtain bread by dishonorable means and those also who would die rather than obtain bread by the violation of their soul. There are numerous ways in which a subject nation feels the humiliation and helplessness of her position, but none is so telHng and so effective as the subordina- tion of her economic interests to those of the dominant power. This is especially true in these days of free and easy transportation, of quick journeys, and of scientific warfare. In any struggle between nations, the victory eventually must rest with the one in possession of the largest number of ''silver bullets." It is true that silver bullets alone will not do unless there are brains and bodies to use them, but the latter without the former are helpless. A nation may be the greatest producer of food; yet she may die of hunger from lack of abiHty to keep her own produce for herself. Food obeys the behest of the silver bullets. The law of self-preservation, 138 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA therefore, requires only that nations be free to regulate their own household, subject to the condition that thereby they do not violate the rules of humanity or trample upon the rights of any human being. Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford have, in parts of their Report, been extremely candid. The value of their joint production lies in this candidness. In no other part, perhaps, have they been so candid as in the one dealing with ''Industries and Tariff." In Paragraph 331 they frankly admit the truth of the following observation of the late Mr. Ranade on the economic effects of British rule in India: "The political domination of one country by another attracts far more attention than the more formidable, though more unfelt, domination which the capital, enterprise and skill of one country exercise over the trade and manufactures of another. This latter domination has an insidious influence which paralyses the springs of all the various activities which together make up the life of a nation." In the course of a letter addressed to the Westminster Gazette in 1917, Lord Curzon said that "the fiscal policy of India during the last thirty or forty years has been shaped far more in Manchester than in Calcutta." This candid admission about "the sub- ordination of Indian fiscal policy to the Secretary of State and a House of Commons powerfully affected by Lancashire influence," is the keynote of the Indian demand for Home Rule. The authors of the Montagu- Chelmsford Report say so quite frankly and fairly in Paragraphs 332 to 336 of their report, from which we make the following extracts: CLAIM TO FISCAL AUTONOMY T39 ''The people are poor; and their poverty raises the question whether the general level of well-being could not be materially raised by the development of in- dustries. It is also clear that the lack of outlet for educated youth is a serious misfortune which has contributed not a little in the past to poHtical unrest in Bengal. But perhaps an even greater mischief is the discontent aroused in the minds of those who are jealous for India by seeing that she is so largely de- pendent on foreign countries for manufactured goods. They noted that her foreign trade was always growing, but they also saw that its leading feature continued to be the barter of raw materials valued at relatively low prices for imported manufactures, which obviously afforded profits and prosperity to other countries industrially more advanced. Patriotic Indians might well ask themselves why these profits should not accrue to their country: and also why so large a portion of the industries which flourished in the country was financed by European capital and managed by Euro- pean skill." "The fact that India's foreign trade was largely with the United Kingdom gave rise to a suspicion that her industrial backwardness was positively encouraged in the interests of British manufactures, and the maintenance of the excise duty on locally manufactured cotton goods in the alleged interests of Lancashire is very widely accepted as a conclusive proof of such a purpose. On a smaller scale, the maintenance of a Stores Department at the India Office is looked upon as an encouragement to the Government to patronize British at the expense of local manufacturers." There can thus be no autonomy without fiscal autonomy. In fact, the latter alone is the determining characteristic of an autonomous existence. The one national trait which distinguishes the British from other nations of the world is their habit of truthfulness and frankness. When we say that I40 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA we do not thereby mean that all Britishers are equally truthful — to the same extent and degree. But we do mean that on the whole the British nation has a larger percentage of truthful and candid persons in her family than any other nation on the face of the earth. Where their interests clash with those of others, they can be as hard, exacting and cruel as any one else in the world. But repentance overtakes them sooner than it does the others. They have a queer but admirable faculty of introspection which few other people possess to the same extent and in the same numbers. This is what endears them even to those who are never tired of cursing their snobbish- ness and masterful imperialism. The faculty of occasionally seeing themselves with the eyes of others, makes them the most successful rulers of men. They are as a nation lacking in imagination, but there are individuals amongst them who can see, if they will, their own faults; who can and do speak out their minds honestly and truthfully, even though by so doing they may temporarily earn odium and un- popularity. The remarks and observations of the eminent authors of the Report relating to the fiscal relations of India and England reflect the honesty of their purpose and the sincerity of their mind as no other part of the Report does. They have entered upon the subject with great diffidence and, though expressing themselves with marked candor and fairness, have refrained from making any definite recommendations. In this respect it will be only fair to acknowledge the equally candid opinion of Mr. Austin Chamberlain, who, in 191 7, made a most significant confession by CLAIM TO FISCAL AUTONOMY 141 stating on an important occasion that ''India will not remain, and ought not to remain content to be a hewer of wood and a drawer of water for the rest of the Empire." To our simple minds, not accustomed to the anom- alies of official life, it seems inexplicable how, after these candid admissions, the authors could have any hesitation in recommending the only remedy by which India's wrong could be righted and her economic rights secured in the future — viz., fiscal autonomy. In Paragraph 335 the authors of the report give the genesis of the Swadeshi boycott movement of 1905, and very pertinently observe that ''in Japanese progress and efficiency" the educated Indians see "an example of what could be eflFected by an Asiatic nation free of foreign control," or in other words, of what could be achieved by India, if she had a national government of her own interested in her industrial advance. Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford thus rightly observe that "English theories to the appropriate limits of the State's activity are inapplicable in India" and that if the resources of the country are to be developed the Government must take action. "After the war," add the authors, "the need for industrial development will be all the greater unless India is to become a mere dumping-ground for the manufactures of foreign nations which will then be competing all the more keenly for the markets on which their political strength so perceptibly depends. India will certainly consider herself entitled to claim all the help that her Government can give her to enable her to take her place as a manufacturing coun- try; and unless the claim is admitted it will surely 142 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA turn into an insistent request for a tariff which will penalize imported articles without respect of origin." Further on the Report states: *'We are agreed therefore that there must be a definite change of view; and that the Government must admit and shoulder its responsibility for furthering the industrial development of the country. The difficulties by this time are well-known. In the past, and partly as a result of recent swadeshi experiences, India's capital has not generally been readily available; among some communities at least there is apparent distaste for practical training, and a comparative weakness of mutual trust; skilled labour is lacking^ and although labour is plentiful, education is needed to inculcate a higher standard of living and so to secure a continuous supply; there is a dearth of technical institu- tions; there is also a want of practical information about the commercial potentialities of Indians war products. Though these are serious difficulties, they are not insuperable; but they will be overcome only if the State comes forward boldly as guide and helper. On the other hand, there are good grounds for hope. India has great natural resources, mineral and vege- table. She has furnished supplies of manganese, tungsten, mica, jute, copra, lac, etc., for use in the war. She has abundant coal, even if its geographical distribution is uneven; she has also in her large rivers ample means of creating water-power. There is good reason for believing that she will greatly increase her output of oil. Her forest wealth is immense, and much of it only awaits the introduction of modern means of transportation, a bolder investment of capital, and the employment of extra staff; while the patient and laborious work of conservation that has been steadily proceeding joined with modern scientific methods of improving supplies and increasing output, will yield a rich harvest in the future. We have been assured that Indi^iii capital will bq forthcoming once CLAIM TO FISCAL AUTONOMY I43 it is realized that it can be invested with security and profit in India; a purpose that will be furthered by the provision of increased facilities for banking and credit. Labor, though abundant, is handicapped by still pursuing uneconomical methods, and its output would be greatly increased by the extended use of machinery. We have no doubt that there is an immense scope for the application of scientific methods. Conditions are ripe for the development of new and for the revival of old industries, and the real enthu- siasm for industries which is not confined to the ambi- tions of a few individuals but rests on the general desire to see Indian capital and labour applied jointly to the good of the country, seem to us the happiest augury." The views of educated India about fiscal policy have been very faithfully reproduced in Paragraphs 341 and 342, which also we reproduce almost bodily: "Connected intimately with the matter of industries is the question of the Indian tariff. This subject was excluded from the deliberations of the Industrial Com- mission now sitting because it was not desirable at that juncture to raise any question of the modification of India's fiscal policy; but its exclusion was none the less the object of some legitimate criticism in India. The changes which we propose in the Government of India will still leave the settlement of India's tariff in the hands of a government amenable to Parliament and the Secretary of State; but inasmuch as the tariff reacts on many matters which will henceforth come more and more under Indian control, we think it well that we should put forward for the information of His Majesty's Government the views of educated Indians upon this subject. We have no immediate proposals to make; we are anxious merely that any decisions which may hereafter be taken should be taken with full appreciation of educated Indian opinion. ''The theoretical free trader, we believe, hardly 144 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA exists in India at present. As was shown by the debates in the Indian Legislative Council in March, 1913, educated Indian opinion ardently desires a tariff. It rightly wishes to find another substantial basis than that of the land for Indian revenues, and it turns to a tariff to provide one. Desiring industries which will give him Indian-made clothes to wear and Indian- made articles to use, the educated Indian looks to the example of other countries which have relied on tariffs, and seizes on the admission of even free traders that for the nourishment of nascent industries a tariff is permissible. We do not know whether he pauses to reflect that these industries will be largely financed by foreign capital attracted by the tariff, although we have evidence that he has not learned to appreciate the advantages of foreign capital. But whatever economic fallacy underlies his reasoning, these are his firm beliefs; and though he may be willing to concede the possibility that he is wrong, he will not readily concede that it is our business to decide the matter for him. He believes that as long as we continue to decide for him we shall decide in the interests of Eng- land and not according to his wishes; and he points to the debate in the House of Commons on the differ- entiation of the cotton excise in support of his con- tention. So long as the people who refuse India protection are interested in manufactures with which India might compete, Indian opinion cannot bring itself to believe that the refusal is disinterested or dictated by care for the best interests of India. This real and keen desire for fiscal autonomy does not mean that educated opinion in India is unmindful of Imperial obligations. . . ." These admissions should put India's claims for fiscal autonomy beyond the range of doubt and dispute, but so strange are the ways of modern statesmanship that consistency and logic are not the necessary accompaniments thereof. CLAIM TO FISCAL AUTONOMY I45 The authors have advanced another very strong argument for the economic development of India, viz., ''miUtary value," which makes the case conclusive. This argument has been suppHed by the Great War and is so well known that we need not state it in their words. If India is to prosper and take her legitimate place in the British Commonwealth, and in the great family of Nations of the World, it is absolutely necessary that she should be given complete fiscal freedom to manage her own affairs, develop her own industries and do her own trading. Considering her size and resources, it wounds her self-respect and makes her feel exceedingly mean and small to go begging for alms and charity every time there is a failure of rains and the cry of famine is raised. For a nation of 315 millions of human beings living in a country which nature has endowed with all its choicest blessings, rich and fertile soil, plenty of water and sun, an abundant supply of metals and coal, willing labor, artistic skill and a power of manipulating for beauty and elegance unexcelled in the world — to exist in pitiful economic dependence is a condition most deplorable and most pathetic. We want no charity, no concessions, no favors, no preference. What we most earnestly beg and ask for is an oppor- tunity. For a synopsis of the findings and recommendations of the Industrial Commission mentioned in this chapter see appendix i. XII THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT In December, 191 7, the Government of India appointed a committee of three Englishmen and two Indians (i) "to investigate and report on the nature and extent of the criminal conspiracies connected with the revolutionary movements in India, (2) to examine and consider the difficulties that have arisen in dealing with such conspiracies and to advise as to the legislation, if any, necessary to enable the govern- ment to deal effectively with them." Of the three English members, Mr. Justice Rowlatt of the King's Bench Division, England, was appointed as president, and of the other two, one was a judge in the service of the Government and the other a member of a Board of Revenue in one of the Indian Provinces. Of the two Indians, one was a judge and the other a practicing lawyer. This committee submitted its report in April, 191 8, which was published by the Government of India in July of the same year. The president, Mr. Justice Rowlatt's letter covering the report gives the nature of the evidence upon which their report is based, which is as follows: ''Statements have been placed before us with documentary evidence by the Govern- ments of Bengal, Bombay, Bihar and Orissa, the Central Provinces, the United Provinces, the Punjab 146 THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT I47 and Burmah as well as by the Government of India. In every case, except that of Madras, we were further attended by officers of the government, presenting this statement, who gave evidence before us. In the two provinces in which we held sittings, namely, Bengal and Punjab, we further invited and secured the attendance of individuals, or as deputed by associa- tions, of gentlemen who we thought might give us information from various non-official points of view." It is clear from this statement that the investigation of the committee was neither judicial nor even semi- judicial; it was a purely administrative inquiry con- ducted behind the backs of the individuals concerned, without the latter having any opportunity of cross- examining the witnesses or giving their explanations of the evidence against them. While the different Governments in India were fully represented in each case by the ablest of their servants, the individuals investigated were not. We do not want to insinuate that either the Governments or the officers deputed by them were unfair in their evidence. All that we want to point out is that the other side had no oppor- tunity of putting their case before the committee. Consequently, it is no wonder that one comes across many traces of political and racial bias both in the introduction and the Report. The very first paragraph of the introduction betrays either ignorance on the part of the committee about the ancient history of India, or a deHberate misrepre- sentation of the nature of the Hindu State. The committee says: "RepubHcan or Parhamentary forms of governments as at present understood were neither desired nor known in Indig. until after the estabUsh- 148' THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA ment of British rule. In the Hindu State the form of government was an absolute monarchy, though the monarch was by the Hindu Shastras hedged round by elaborate rules for securing the welfare of his subjects and was assisted by a body of councillors, the chief of whom were Brahmin members of the priestly class which derived authority from a time when the priests were the sole repositories of knowledge and therefore the natural instruments of administration." The statements made in this paragraph do not represent the whole truth. The committee ignores the fact that Republican or Parliamentary forms of Government "as at present under stood^^ were neither desired nor known in any part of the world, except perhaps England itself until after the establishment of British rule in India. ^ Then the committee has altogether ignored that, in the Hindu State, the form of government was not an absolute monarchy always and in all parts of India. There is ample historical evidence to prove that India had many Republican States, along with oligarchies and monarchies at one and the same period of her history. The second part of the second sentence is also not correct, because the priestly class derived its authority from a time when the priests were not the sole repositories of knowledge. The several Hindu political treatises belong to a period when the whole populace was highly educated and could take sub- stantial part in the determination of the affairs of their country. Equally misleading is the last sentence of the intro- duction where the committee says that it is among the ^ The beginnings of British rule in India were made in 1757 a.d. THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT 149 Chitpavan Brahmins of the Poona district that they first find indications of a revolutionary movement. This statement is incorrect, if it means that after the estabhshment of British rule in India no attempt had been made to overthrow it prior to the Revolutionary movement inaugurated by the Poona Brahmins. The statement ignores three such attempts which are known to history; viz., (a) the great Mutiny of 1857, (b) the Wahabee Rebellion of Bengal, and (c) the Kuka Rebellion of the Punjab; not to mention other minor attempts made in other places by other people. Yet we think that this report is a very valuable document, giving in one place the history and the progress of the Revolutionary Movement in India. The findings and the recommendations of the com- mittee may not be all correct, but the material collected and published for the first time is too valuable to be neglected by anyone who wants to have an intelligent grasp of the political situation in India, such as has developed within the last twenty years. The committee gives a summary of its conclusions as to the conspiracies in Chapter XV, which we copy verbatim: "In Bombay they have been purely Brahmin and mostly Chitpavan. In Bengal the conspirators have been young men belonging to the educated middle classes. Their propaganda has been elaborate, per- sistent and ingenious. In their own province it has produced a long series of murders and robberies. In Bihar and Orissa, the United Provinces, the Central Provinces and Madras, it took no root, but occasionally led to crime and disorder. In the Punjab the return of emigrants from America, bent on revolution and bloodshed, produced numerous outrages and the 150 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA Ghadr conspiracy of 191 5. In Burma, too, the Ghadr movement was active, but was arrested. "Finally came a Mohammedan conspiracy confined to a small clique of fanatics and designed to overthrow British rule with foreign aid. "All these plots have been directed towards one and the same objective, the overthrow by force of British rule in India. Sometimes they have been isolated; sometimes they have been interconnected; sometimes they have been encouraged and supported by German influence. All have been successfully encountered with the support of Indian loyalty.'^ In this general summary the committee has made no attempt to trace out the causes that led to the inauguration of the revolutionary movement and its subsequent progress. A chapter on that subject would have been most illuminating. In chapters dealing with provinces they have selected some individuals and classes on whom to lay blame for "incitements" to murders and crimes, but have entirely failed to analyze the social, political and economic conditions which made such incitements and their success possible. It is clear even from this summary that the only two provinces where the revolutionary propaganda took root and resulted in more than occasional outrages were Bengal and the Punjab. In the Bombay Presidency, revolutionary outrages did not exceed three within a period of 20 years (from 1897 to 1917), two murders and one bomb-throwing. Besides, three trials for conspiracies are mentioned all within a year (1909-19 10), two in Native States and one in British territory. Altogether 82 men were prosecuted for being involved in these conspiracies. THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT 1 51 The total result comes to this, that in the course of 20 years about loo persons were found to be involved in a revolutionary movement in a territory embracing an area of 186,923 square miles and a population of 27 million human beings. This is surely by no means a formidable record justifying extraordinary legislation such as is proposed. ^ The net loss of human life did not exceed three, though unfortunately all three victims were Europeans. Bihar and Orissa formed part of the province of Bengal during most of the period covered by the revolutionary movement of Bengal, viz., from 1906 to 191 7. It was in Bihar which was then a part of Bengal, that in 1908, the first bomb was thrown. The only other revolutionary outrage that took place in Bihar was one in 1913, resulting in the murder of two Indians. In the United Provinces of Agra and Oude, the only tangible evidence of revolutionary activity re- corded by the committee is the Benares Conspiracy that came to light in 1915-1916. The only outrage noted is that of the alleged murder of a fellow revolu- tionary by a member of the same gang. To the Central provinces the committee has given a practically clean bill. In Madras the revolutionary outrages consisted of one murder (of a European Magistrate) and one conspiracy involving nine persons. The cons acies and intrigues detected in Burma are ascribed to people of other provinces and not a single outrage from that province itself is reported. So we fi^nd that in the period from 1906 to 1907, 1 Since enacted. 152 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA both inclusive, outside the provinces of Bengal and the Punjab, the revolutionary crime was limited to three outrages and three conspiracies in the Bombay Presidency, one outrage in Bihar, one outrage and one conspiracy in the United Provinces, one outrage and one conspiracy in Madras and some intrigues and conspiracies during the war in Burma. Thus the only two provinces in which the revolutionary move- ment established itself to any appreciable extent was Bengal and the Punjab. In the Punjab, again, the first revolutionary crime took place in December, 191 2, and the second in 1913 and the rest all during the War. Cases of seditious utterances and writings are not included in the term "revolutionary crime" used in the above paragraphs. It was from Bengal, then, that before the War revolu- tionary propaganda was carried on to any large extent, revolutionary movements organized and revolutionary crimes committed. About half of the Report deals with Bengal and the general findings of the committee may be thus summarized: (i) That the object of the movement was the overturning of 'Hhe British government in India by violent means" (p. 15 and also p. 19). (2) That the class among whom the movement spread was comprised of the Bhadralok (the respectable middle class). The committee says: "The people among whom he (i.e., Barendra, the first Bengali revolutionary propagandist) worked, the bhadralok of Bengal, have been for centuries peaceful and unwarlike, but, through the influence of the great central city of Calcutta, were early in appreciating the advantages of Western learning. They are mainly THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT 1 53 Hindus and their leading castes are Brahmins, Kay- asthas and Vaidyas; but with the spread of English education some other castes too have adopted bhadralok ideals and modes of life. Bhadralok abound in villages as well as in towns, and are thus more interwoven with the landed classes than are the literate Indians of other provinces. Wherever they live or settle, they earnestly desire and often provide English education for their sons. The consequence is that a number of Anglo- vernacular schools, largely maintained by private enterprise, have sprung up throughout the towns and villages of Bengal. No other province of India possesses a network of rural schools in which English is taught. These schools are due to the enterprise of the bhadralok and to the fact that, as British rule gradually spread from Bengal over Northern India, the scope of employment for English-educated Bengalis spread with it. Originally they predominated in all offices and higher grade schools throughout Upper India. They were also, with the Parsees, the first Indians to send their sons to England for education, to qualify for the Bar, or to compete for the higher grades of the Civil and Medical services. When, however, similar classes in other provinces also acquired a working knowledge of EngHsh, the field for Bengali enterprise gradually shrank. In their own province bhadralok still almost monopoHze the clerical and subordinate administrative services of Government. They are prominent in medicine, in teaching and at the Bar. But, in spite of these advantages, they have felt the shrinkage of foreign employment; and as the education which they receive is generally literary and ill-adapted to incline the youthful mind to industrial, commercial or agricultural pursuits, they have not succeeded in finding fresh outlets for their energies. Their hold on land, too, has weakened, owing to increas- ing pressure of population and excessive sub-infeudation. Altogether their economic prospects have narrowed, and the increasing numbers who draw fixed incomes have Jdt the pinch of rising prices. On the other hand, the 154 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA memories and associations of their earlier prosperity^ combined with growing contact with Western ideas and standards of comfort, have raised their expectations of the pecuniary remuneration which should reward a labori- ous and, to their minds, a costly education. Thus as bhadralok learned in English have become more and more numerous, a growing number have become less and less inclined to accept the conditions of life in which they found themselves on reaching manhood. Bhadralok have always been prominent among the supporters of Indian political movements; and their leaders have watched with careful attention events in the world outside India. The large majority of the people of Bengal are not bhadralok but cultivators, and in the eastern districts mainly Muhammadans; but the cultivators of the province are absorbed in their own pursuits, in litigation, and in religious and caste observances. It was not to them but to his own class that Barendra appealed. When he renewed his efforts in 1904, the thoughts of many members of this class had been stirred by various powerful in- fluences." [The italics are ours.] We have given this lengthy extract as it shows con- clusively {a) that the movement originated and spread among people who had received Western education, most of the leaders having been educated in England and {b) that the root cause of the movement was economic. (3) That various circumstances occasioned by certain Government measures ''specially favored the develop- ment" of the movement (p. 16). Among the measures specially mentioned are {a) the University law of Lord Curzon ''which was interpreted by politicians as designed to limit the numbers of Indians educated in English and thus to retard national advance"; {b) the partition of Bengal by Lord Curzon. "It was the THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT 155 agitation that attended and followed on this measure that brought previous discontent to a climax." (4) That the revolutionary movement received a substantial impetus by the failure of constitutional agitation for the reversal of the policy that decided on partitioning Bengal into two divisions. This failure led to two different kinds of agitation, open and secret: (a) open economic defiance by Swadeshi and boycott — Swadeshi was the affirmative and boycott the negative form of the same movement. Swadeshi enjoined the use of country made articles; boycott was directed against English imports, (b) open propaganda by a more outspoken and in some instances violent press, (c) open control of educational agencies by means of national institutions, (d) open stimulus to physical education and physical culture, (e) nation- alistic interpretation of religious dogma and forms (open), (/) organization of secret societies for more violent propaganda, for learning and teaching the use of firearms, for the manufacture of bombs, for illicit purchase and stealing of firearms, for assassina- tion and murder, (g) secret attempts to tamper with the army, (h) conspiracies for terroristic purposes and for obtaining sinews of war by theft, robbery and extortion. The following two extracts which the committee has taken from one of the publications of the revolu- tionary party called Mukti Kon Pathe (what is the path of salvation) will explain clauses (/) and (g) and (h), "The book further points out that not much muscle was required to shoot Europeans, that arms could be procured by grim determination, and that weapons 156 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA could be prepared silently in some secret place. In- dians could be sent to foreign countries to learn the art of making weapons. The assistance of Indian soldiers must be obtained. They must be made to understand the misery and wretchedness of the coun- try. The heroism of Sivaji must be remembered. As long as revolutionary work remained in its infancy, expenses could be met by subscriptions. But as work advanced, money must be extracted from society by the application of force. If the revolution is being brought about for the welfare of society, then it is perfectly just to collect money from society for that purpose. It is admitted that theft and dacoity are crimes because they violate the principle of good society. But the political dacoit is aiming at the good of society, *'so no sin but rather virtue attaches to the destruction of this small good for the sake of some higher good. Therefore if revolutionaries extort money from the miserly or luxurious members of society by the application of force, their conduct is perfectly just." Mukti Kon Pathe further exhorts its readers to obtain the "help of the native soldiers. . . . Although these soldiers for the sake of their stomach accept service in the Government of the ruling power, still they are nothing but men made of flesh and blood. They, too, know (how) to think; when therefore the revolutionaries explain to them the woes and miseries of the country, they, in proper time, swell the ranks of the revolutionaries with arms and weapons given them by the ruling power. . . . Because it is possible to persuade the soldiers in this way, the modern English Raj of India does not allow the cunning Bengalis to enter into the ranks of the army. . . . Aid in the shape of arms may be secretly obtained by securing the help of the foreign ruling powers." (5) That except in five cases the idea of private gain never entered into the activities of the revolu- THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT 157 tionaries and of the five persons referred to three were taxi-cab drivers either hired or coerced to cooperate in revolutionary enterprise (p. 20). (6) That ''the circumstances that robberies and murders are being committed by young men of respect- able extraction, students at schools and colleges, is indeed an amazing phenomenon the occurrence of which in most countries would be hardly credible." (7) That "since the year 1906 revolutionary outrages in Bengal have numbered 210 and attempts at com- mitting such outrages have amounted to loi. Definite information is in the hands of the police of the com- plicity of no less than 1038 persons in these offences. But of these, only 84 persons have been convicted of specified crimes in 39 prosecutions, and of these per- sons, 30 were tried by tribunals constituted under the Defence of India Act. Ten attempts have been made to strike at revolutionary conspiracies by means of prosecutions directed against groups or branches. In these prosecutions 192 persons were involved, 63 of whom were convicted. Eighty-two revolutionaries have rendered themselves liable to be bound over to be of good behaviour under the preventive sections of the Criminal Procedure Code. In regard to 51 of these, there is direct evidence of compHcity in outrages. There have, moreover, been 59 prosecutions under the Arms and Explosives Acts which have resulted in convictions of 58 persons." We wish the committee had also supplemented this information by a complete record of the punishments that were imposed on persons convicted of revolu- tionary crime in the ten years from 1906 to 191 7. We are sure such a statement would have been most 158 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA informing and illuminating. It would have con- clusively established the soundness of the half-hearted finding that ''the convictions . . . did not have as much effect as might have been expected in repressing crime." In fact they had no effect. They only added fuel to the fire. (8) That persons involved in revolutionary crime belonged to all castes and occupations and the vast bulk of them were non-Brahmins. They were of all ages, from 10-15 to over 45, the majority being under 25. The committee has in an appendix (p. 93) given three tables of statistics as to age, caste, occupation or profession of persons convicted in Bengal of revolu- tionary crimes or killed in commission of such crimes during the years 1907-1917. This clause is based on these statistics. We are afraid, however, that these statistics do not afford quite a correct index of the age, caste, occupa- tion and position of all the people in Bengal that were and are sympathetically interested in the revolutionary movement of Bengal. In investigating reasons for failure of ordinary machinery for the prevention, detection and punish- ment of crime in Bengal, the committee has assigned six reasons: (a) want of evidence, (b) paucity of police, (c) facilities enjoyed by criminals, (d) difficulty in proof of possession of arms, etc., (e) distrust of evidence, (/) the uselessness, in general, of confession made to the Police. These reasons, however, do not represent the whole truth. Some of the most daring crimes were committed in broad daylight, in much frequented streets of the metropolis and in the presence of numerous people, Moreover, the Govern- THE REVOLTTTIONARY MOVEMENT 159 ment did not depend on ordinary law. Measure after measure was enacted to expedite and facilitate con- victions. Extraordinary provisions were made to meet all the difficulties pointed out by the committee and extraordinary sentences were given in the case of conviction. Yet the Government failed either to extirpate the movement or to check it effectively or to bring the majority of offenders to book. The members of the committee have frankly ad- mitted: ''That we do not expect very much from punitive measures. The conviction of offenders will never check such a movement as that which grew up in Bengal unless the leaders can be convicted at the outset." They pin their faith on ''preventive" measures recommended by them. It was perhaps not within their scope to say that the most effective pre- ventive measure was the removal of the political and economic causes that had generated the movement. The committee has studiously avoided discussing that important point, but now and then they have inci- dentally furnished the real clue to the situation. Discussing the "accessibiUty of Bengal schools and colleges to Revolutionary influences," they quote a passage from one of the reports of the Director of PubHc Instruction in Bengal. We copy below the whole of this paragraph, as, to us, it seems to be very pertinent to the issue. '* Accessibility of Bengal Schools and Colleges to Revolutionary Influences. — Abundant evidence has compelled us to the conclusion that the secondary English schools, and in a less degree the colleges, of Bengal have been regarded by the revolutionaries as their most fruitful recruiting centres. Dispersed l6o THE POLITICAL FTJTIIRE OF mDIA as these schools are far and wide throughout the Province, sometimes clustering in a town, sometimes isolated in the far-away villages of the eastern water- country, they form natural objects for attack; and as is apparent from the reports of the Department of Public Instruction, they have been attacked for years with no small degree of success. In these reports the Director has from time to time noticed such matters as the circulation of seditious leaflets, the number of students implicated in conspiracy cases and the apathy of parents and guardians. But perhaps his most instructive passages are the following, in which he sets out the whole situation in regard to secondary English schools. 'The number of these schools,' he wrote, 'is rapidly increasing, and the cry is for more and more. It is a demand for tickets in a lottery, the prizes of which are posts in Government service and employment in certain professions. The bhadralok have nothing to look to but these posts, while those who desire to rise from a lower social or economic station have their eyes on the same goal. The middle classes in Bengal are gen- erally poor, and the increased stress of competition and the tendency for the average earnings of certain careers to decrease — a tendency which is bound to follow on the increased demand to enter them, coupled with the rise in the cost of living and the inevitable raising in the standard of comfort — all these features continue to make the struggle to exist in these classes keener. Hence the need to raise educational standards, to make school life a greater influence for good and the course of instruction more thorough and more comprehensive. A need which becomes more and more imperative as life in India becomes more complicated and more exacting is confronted by a determined though perfectly natural opposition to the raising of fees. . . . Probably the worst feature of the situation is the low wages and the complete absence of prospects which are the fate of teachers in the secondary schools. ... It is easy to blame the parents for blindness to their sons' true good, but the matriculation examination is the thing that seems to THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT i6l matter, so that if his boy passes the annual promotion examinations and is duly presented at that examination at the earliest possible date, the average parent has no criticism to offer. This is perfectly natural, but the future of Bengal depends to a not inconsiderable extent on the work done in its secondary schools, and more is required of these institutions than an ability to pass a certain proportion of boys through the Calcutta University Matriculation examination. . . . The pres- ent condition of secondary schools is undoubtedly prejudicing the development of the presidency and is by no means a negligible feature in the existing state of general disturbance. It is customary to trace the genesis of much sedition and crime to the back streets and lanes of Calcutta and Dacca, where the organizers of anarchic conspiracies seek their agents from among University students. This view is correct as far as it goes, but it is in the high schools, with their underpaid and discontented teachers, their crowded, dark and ill-ventilated classrooms, and their soul-destroying process of unceasing cram, that the seeds of discontent and fanaticism are sown.'' [The italics are ours.] Yet for years nothing was done to improve educa- tion, to make it practical and creative and productive. In fact nothing has been done up till now. Let the reader read with this the report of the Indian Industrial Commission recently issued under the authority of the Government of India and he will at once find the true causes which underlie the revolu- tionary movement in India. These causes are not in any way peculiar to Bengal or to the Punjab; they are common to the whole of India, but they have found a fruitful soil in these provinces on account of the rather intense natures of the people of these two provinces. The Bengali is an intensely patriotic and emotional being, very sensitive and very resentful; the Punjabee l62 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA is intensely virile, passionate and plucky, having developed a strong, forceful character by centuries of resistance to all kind of invasions and attacks. Of the Punjab, however, we will speak later on. For the present we are concerned with Bengal only. The amazing phenomenon mentioned by the committee on p. 20 and referred to by us before is easily explained by the facts hinted in the Directors' report quoted above. And this notwithstanding the fact that in the matter of Government patronage Bengal has been the most favored province in India, throughout the period of British rule. To the Bengalis have gone all the first appointments to oflSices that were thrown open to the natives of the soil. They have been the recipients of the highest honors from the Government. Bengal is virtually the only province permanently settled where the Government cannot add to the Land tax fixed in 1793. The Bengalis are the people who spread over India, with every territorial extension of the British Raj. They have been the pampered and favored children of the Government and for very good reasons, too. They are the best educated and the most in- telligent of all the Indian peoples. They know how to adapt themselves to all conditions and circumstances, they know how to enjoy and also how to suffer. They have subtle brains and supple bodies. The British Government could not do without them. It cannot do without them even now. Yet it was this most loyal and most dutiful, this most westernized and the best educated class which laid the foundations of the revolutionary movement and has been carrying it on successfully in face of all the forces of such a mighty Government as that of the British in India. THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT 1 65 What is the reason? It is the utter economic helpless- ness of the younger generation, aided by a sense of extreme humiliation and degradation. The Govern- ment never earnestly appHed itself to the solution of the problem. They did nothing to reduce poverty and make education practical. Every time the budget was discussed the Indian members pressed for increased expenditure on education. All their pro- posals and motions were rejected by the standing official majorities backed by the whole force of non- official Europeans including the missionaries. The Government thus deliberately sowed the wind. Is there any wonder that it is now reaping the whirlwind? The cause is economic; the remedy must be economic. Make education practical, foster industries, open all Government careers to the sons of the soil, reduce the cost on the military and civil services, let the people determine the fiscal policy of the country and the revolutionary movement will subside. Die it will not, so long as there is foreign domination and foreign exploitation. Even after India has attained Home Rule it will not die. It has come to stay. India is a part of the world and revolution is in the air all the world over. The effort to kill it by repression and suppression is futile, unwise and stupid. XIII THE PUNJAB We may now consider the case of the Punjab. Lord Morley's verdict notwithstanding, it is abundantly clear that the troubles of 1907, with which the history of unrest in the Punjab begins, were principally agrarian in their origin. Lord Morley's speech in the House of Commons (in 1907) as to the root of the trouble was based on reports supplied to him by the Government of the Punjab and we know from personal knowledge how unreliable many of these reports are. We may here illustrate this point by a few extracts from these documents. (i) Lord Morley stated that: "There were twenty- eight meetings known to have been held by the leading agitators in the Punjab between ist March and ist May. Of these five only related, even ostensibly, to agricultural grievances; the remaining twenty- three were all purely political." The number of meetings held from March i to May I, 1907 was, at the lowest calculation, at least double of 28, or perhaps treble, and most of them related "even ostensibly to agricultural grievances"; the number of purely political meetings could not have exceeded ten or twelve. (2) On p. 6i the committee writes that "Chatarji's 164 THE PUNJAB 165 father too had ordered him home on discovering that he was staying with Hardayal in the house of Lajpat Rai." The whole of this statement is absolutely false. I am prepared to swear and to prove that Chatarji did not stay in my house even for a single night. He came there a few times with Hardayal. Hardayal was at that time living in a house he had rented for himself in the native city about one mile from my place which is in the Civil Station on the Lower Mall. On the same page the committee has approvingly quoted a sentence from the judgment of the Sessions Judge in the Delhi Conspiracy Case. Speaking of Amir Chand, one of the accused in that case who was sentenced to death, the Sessions Judge describes him as "one who spent his life in furthering murderous schemes which he was too timid to carry out himself.'* Now I happen to have known this man for about 20 years before his conviction. I have no doubt that he was rightly convicted in this case but I have no doubt also that this description of him by the Sessions Judge was absolutely wrong. Up till 19 10 the man had led an absolutely harmless life, helping students in their studies and otherwise rendering assistance, according to his means, to other needy people. No one ever credited him with violent views. His revolu- tionary career began in 1908. Before that he could not and would not have tolerated even the killing of an ant, much less that of human beings. In governments by bureaucracies one of the standing formulas of official etiquette is never to question the findings of facts arrived at by your superiors or prede- cessors. This naturally leads to the perpetuation of l66 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA mistakes. A wrong conclusion once accepted continues to be good for all times to come. The Rowlatt Com- mittee has studiously acted on that formula throughout its present inquiry. They have invariably accepted the findings of executive and judicial authorities preceding them about the incidents that happened since 1907, without making any independent inquiry of their own. Hence their opinion about the original or the principal cause of the unrest of 1907 in the Punjab is not entitled to greater weight than that of the Punjab officials whose mishandling of the affairs of the province produced the unrest. One ounce of fact, however, is of greater weight in the determination of issues than even a hundred theories. The fact that the Government of India had to veto the Punjab Government's Land Colonies Act in order to allay the unrest proves conclusively that the unrest was due to agrarian trouble. The unrest of 1907 subsided after the repeal of the land legislation of 1907, but the legacy it left is still operative. The Sikhs and the Mussulmans of the Punjab, as well as the military classes among the Hindus, the Rajputs and the Jats, are the most virile portions of the population. They have fought the battles of the Empire. In the interests of the Empire they have travelled far and wide. Yet we find that educationally, as well as economically, they have suffered most. They have the largest numbers of illiterates among them. They are the least developed and the least progressive of all the classes in the Punjab. They are heavily in debt. The Government has occasionally recognised it and has tried to satisfy them by pref- THE PUNJAB 167 erential treatment in the filling of Government posts, or in the bestowal of titles or in nominating their supposed leaders to Legislative Councils. These ridicu- lous palliative measures, however, have failed in their objective. The classes disaffected do not get any satisfaction by these palliative measures. They need opportunities of education and economic betterment. These could not be provided without making education general and without a more equitable distribution of land among the agricultural classes and the inaugura- tion of industries other than agriculture. This the Government never cared to do. The Sikhs and the Mussulmans naturally directed their attention to emigration. The opportunities they found in other parts of the Empire whetted their appetites. They compared the conditions abroad with conditions at home and drew their own conclusions. Having helped in the expan- sion and development of the Empire they thought they were entitled to benefit therefrom. They de- manded fair treatment. Instead they found the doors shut upon them. Even those that had been admitted were made to feel the humiliation of their position. Deliberate, active, concerted measures were taken to drive them away or to make life for them intolerable. Their wives and children were refused admittance and various pretexts were invented to keep them out or to drive them away. The revolutionary movement in the Punjab amounted to nothing until it was rein- forced by the return of the Sikh members of the Ghadr party during the war. The Committee has failed to answer the question: Why did the Sikhs of Vancouver and California readily fall in with the schemes of 1 68 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA Hardayal and Barkat Ullah, the alleged founders of the revolutionary party of California? These latter had nothing in common with the Sikhs. In language and religion, by habits and associations, they were poles apart from each other. Why did then Hardayal's propaganda find such a ready soil among the Sikhs of Vancouver B. C. We quote from the report: ''The doctrines which he preached and circulated had reached the Sikhs and other Indians resident in British Columbia. At a meeting in Vancouver in December, 1913, a poem from the Ghadr newspaper was read, in which the Hindus were urged to expel the British from India. The main grievance of the Van- couver Indians was the Canadian immigration law under which every intending Asiatic immigrant, with a few particular exceptions, has to satisfy the Canadian authorities that he is in possession of 200 dollars and has travelled by a continuous ^ journey on a through ticket from his native country to Canada. In 1913 three Sikh delegates visited the Punjab. They had come from America and were members of the Ghadr party who had come to reconnoitre the position. Their real purpose was recognised after their departure. They addressed meetings at various towns on the subject of the grievances of Indians in Canada and caused resolutions of protest to be passed in which all communities joined." Again, tracing the origin of the Budge-Budge riot, the Committee remarks: "The central figure in the narrative is a certain Gurdit Singh, a Sikh of the Amritsar district in the Punjab, who had emigrated from India 15 years before, and had for some time carried on business as a con- ^There never was a continuous steamer service between India and Canada. THE PUNJAB 169 tractor in Singapore and the Malay States. There is reason to believe that he returned to this country about 1909. He was certainly absent from Singapore for a space; and when he returned there, going on to Hong Kong, he interested himself in chartering a ship for the conveyance of Punjabis to Canada. Punjabis, and especially Sikhs, frequently seek employment in the Far East, and have for some time been tempted by the higher wages procurable in Canada. But their admission to that country is to some extent impeded by the immigration laws which we have described already. There were already in Canada about 4,000 Indians, chiefly Punjabis. Some of these were revolutionists of the Hardayal school, some were loyal, and some had migrated from the United States on account of labour differences there. The Committee of Enquiry, which subsequently investigated the whole affair, considered that Gurdit Singh's action had been much influenced by advice and encouragement received from Indian residents in Canada. At any rate, after failing to secure a ship at Calcutta, he chartered a Japanese vessel named the Komagata Maru through a German agent at Hong Kong. He issued tickets and took in passengers at that post, at Shanghai, at Moji and at Yokohama. He certainly knew what the Canadian law was, but perhaps hoped to evade it by means of some appeal to the courts or by exercising political pressure. It is equally certain that many of his pas- sengers had no clear comprehension of their prospects. The Tribunal that subsequently tried the first batch of Lahore conspirators held that probably Gurdit Singh's main object was to cause an inflammatory episode, as one of the witnesses stated that Gurdit Singh told his followers that should they be refused admission, they would return to India to expel the British. On April the 4th, 1914, the Komagata Maru sailed from Hong Kong. On the 23rd of May the Komagata Maru arrived at Vancouver with 351 Sikhs and 21 Punjabi Muhammadans on board. The I70 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA local authorities refused to allow landing except in a very few cases, as the immigrants had not complied with the requirements of the law. Protests were made, and, while negotiations were proceeding, a balance of 22,000 dollars still due for the hire of the ship was paid by Vancouver Indians, and the charter was transferred to two prominent malcontents. . . . A body of police was sent to enforce the orders of the Canadian Government that the vessel should leave; but with the assistance of firearms, the police were beaten off, and it was only when a Government vessel was requisitioned with armed force that the Komagata Maru passengers, who had prevented their Captain from weighing anchor or getting up steam, were brought to terms. On the 23rd of July they started on their return journey with an ample stock of pro- visions allowed them by the Canadian Government. They were by this time in a very had temper as many had staked all their possessions on this venture, a7td had started in the full belief that the British Government would assure and guarantee their admission to a land of plenty. This temper had been greatly aggravated by direct revolutionary influences. . . . ''During the return voyage the War broke out. On hearing at Yokohama that his ship's comipany would not be allowed to land at Hong Kong, Gurdit Singh replied that they were perfectly willing to go to any port in India if provisions were supplied. The British Consul at Yokohama declined to meet his demands, which were exorbitant; but the consul at Kobe was more compliant, and after telegraphic com- munication between Japan and India, the Komagata Maru started for Calcutta. At neither Hong Kong nor Singapore were the passengers allowed to land. This added to their annoyance, as, according to the findings of the Committee, many had not wished to return to India at all." The Committee found that most of the passengers were disposed to blame the Government of India for all their misfortunes. ''It is weU known," states the THE PUNJAB 171 Report, "that the average Indian makes no distinction between the Government of the United Kingdom, that of Canada, and that of British India, or that of any colony. To him these authorities are all one and the same. And this view of the whole Komagata Maru business was by no means confined to the passengers on the ship. It inspired some Sikhs of the Punjab with the idea that the Government was biased against them; and it strengthened the hands of the Ghadr revolutionaries who were urging Sikhs abroad to return to India and join the mutiny which, they asserted, was about to begin. Numbers of emigrants listened to such calls and hastened back to India from Canada, the United States, the Philippines, Hong Kong and China." [The italics are ours.] We have given this extract to show the real cause of the growth of the revolutionary movement among the Sikhs. Let the reader omit, if he can, for a moment, all references to active revolutionary propaganda and he will find that the underlying cause of this trouble was economic. Why did the Sikhs want to emigrate to Canada? Why did they stake all their possessions on the venture? Why were they unwilling to return to India at all? Because the economic conditions at home were so bad and the prospects abroad so good. At home their lands were not sufficient to absorb all their energies, the income was not sufficient to keep body and soul together and, in a majority of cases, what they made from land was hardly more than sufficient to pay Land Revenue to the Government and interest to the money-lender. There was nothing to bind them to their homes except the love of home land and the domestic ties. These melted away in the presence of dire necessity. In extreme need they 172 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA left their homes to make more money to be able to pay their debts, to redeem their lands, if possible to purchase more land and to make life bearable and tolerable. When they came in the open world they found insurmountable barriers between them and plenty. They had helped in making the empire; the empire had enough land for all her sons and daugh- ters; men were urgently needed to bring land into cultivation and otherwise to develop the empire; men of other races and colours were not only welcome but were being induced to come and settle by offers of all kinds. They, and they alone, were unwelcome and barred. Add to this the attitude and the record of the Punjab Government towards political agitation and political agitators, to use their own favorite expressions. The Punjab Government was the first to resuscitate the old Regulation III of 1818 for the purpose of scotching a legitimate agitation against an obnoxious legislative measure. A wise and sagacious Government would have dropped the legislation which it was eventually found necessary to veto to maintain peace. The deportations drove the seeds of unrest deeper. The other contributory causes may be thus summed up: (i) The Punjab Government has been the most relentless of all local governments in India in suppress- ing freedom of speech and press. (2) The Punjab Government at one time was very foolishly zealous in persecuting the Arya Samajists and in making a mountain out of a molehill about the letters found in the possession of Parmanand. (3) The sentences which the Punjab Courts have passed in cases of seditious libel are marked by such THE PUNJAB ' 173 brutality as to make them notably unique in the history of criminal administration in India. (4) The strangulation of all open poHtical Hfe by direct and indirect repression led to the adoption of secret methods. (5) The sentences passed in the Delhi Conspiracy case were much more severe than those given in Bengal in similar cases. In this case four men were hanged, two of them only because of membership in the secret conspiracy and not for actual participation in the outrage that was the subject of the charge, and two others were sentenced to seven years rigorous imprison- ment each. (6) The Budge-Budge riot and the considerable loss of life that resulted therefrom was another case of stupid management and utter incapacity to handle a delicate situation. (7) For the Lahore Conspiracy 28 persons were hanged, and about 90 sentenced to long terms of imprisonment and transportation for life. But for the interference of Lord Hardinge the hangings would have exceeded 50. In addition some mutinous soldiers of two regiments were tried by Court Martial and a few murderous robbers and train-wreckers were dealt with by the ordinary courts. The reader may well compare this with the record of convictions relating to Bengal. Now, we have not the slightest intention of justifying the conduct of those who conspired to overthrow the Government by force, or who committed murders, robberies or other offences in the furtherance of that design. In our judgment only madmen, ignorant of the conditions of their country^ could have been guilty 174 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA of such crimes. Nor are we inclined to blame the Government much for the sharp steps they took to preserve order and maintain their authority during the war . But, after all has been said, we must reiterate that the underlying causes were economic and were the direct result of Government policy. XIV RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REPRESSIVE LEGISLATION The Committee has said all that it could against individual publicists, Indian public movements and the native press. They have found no fault with the Anglo-Indian press and the Government. The whole force of their judicial acumen has been applied in recommending fresh measures of repression and suppression which they have divided into two kinds: Punitive Measures, Permanent, (a) Points of Gen- eral Application. The measures which we shall sub- mit are of two kinds, viz., Punitive, by which term we mean measures better to secure the conviction and punishment of offenders, and Preventive, i.e., measures to check the spread of conspiracy and the commission of crime. We may say at once that we do not expect very much from punitive measures.^ The conviction of offenders will never check such a movement as that which grew up in Bengal unless all the leaders can be 1 The Government of India have been on the inclined plane of repression as a remedy of discontent, which sometimes leads to crime, for now more than twenty years. They have in the interval placed on the Statute Book the Penal and Criminal Procedure Codes, the Post Office Amendment Acts, the Ofl&cial Secrets Act, the Seditious Meetings Act, the Incitement to Offences Act, the Criminal Law Amendment Act, the Press Act, the Conspiracy Act, and the Defence of India Act. Have they attained their object? The very introduction of the two new Bills ... is the eloquent answer. What is it but a confession of failure? . . . Leader, Allahabad. I7S 176 TEE POLITICAL PtTTTIRE OF INDIA convicted at the outset. Further, the real difficulties have been the scarcity of evidence due to various causes and the want of reliance whether justified or not, on such evidence as there has been. The last difficulty is fundamental and cannot be remedied. No law can direct a court to be convinced when it is not. Punitive Measures (Permanent). Legislation directed better to secure the punishment of seditious crime may take the shape either — (a) of changes in the general law of evidence or procedure which if sound would be advisable in regard to all crime, or (b) changes in the substantive law of sedition or modifications in the rules of evidence and procedure in such cases designed to deal with the special features of that class of offence. The recommendation under (a) does not amount to much and we will not mention it. Under (b) they recommend: In the first place we think that a permanent enact- ment on the lines of Rule 25 A under the Defence of India Act is required. That rule provides for the punishment of persons having prohibited documents (which may have to be defined anew) in their posses- sion or control with (as we read the effect of the words used) intent to publish or circulate them. . , . We also recommend that the principle of section 565 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (which provides for an order requiring notification of residence after release in the case of persons convicted a second time for certain offences) should be extended to all persons convicted of offences under Chapter VI of the Penal Code (offences against the State) whether previously convicted or not. Such persons might be ordered to give security for a period not exceeding two years for good behaviour so far as offences under Chapter VI REPRESSIVE LEGISLATION I77 are concerned, and in default be directed to notify their residence to Government, who should have power to restrict their movements for the period of two years after their release and prohibit them from addressing public meetings, — the term "public meetings" includ- ing in its scope political subjects as in section 4 of the Prevention of Seditious Meetings Act of 1907. Lastly, we think that in all cases where there is a question of seditious intent, evidence of previous conviction for seditious crime or association (of an incriminating kind, of course) with persons so con- victed should be admissible upon written notice to the accused with such particulars and at such a time before the evidence is given as might be fair. What we have called seditious crime would of course have to be accurately defined. Now it is evident that after such legislation all liberty of speech and action becomes extinct. These recom- mendations will we fear directly lead to secret propa- ganda and secret action. Under the head of emergency punitive measures the committee recommends: Emergency Provisions for Trials. Coming now to the measures themselves, we are of opinion that provision should be made for the trial of seditious crime by Benches of three Judges without juries or assessors and without preliminary commitment pro- ceedings or appeal. In short, the procedure ^ we recommend should follow the lines laid down in sections 5-9 inclusive of the Defence of India Act. It should be made clear that section 512 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (relating to the giving in evidence^ under certain circumstances of depositions taken in the absence of an absconding accused) applies to these trials, it having, we understand, been questioned whether section 7 of the Defence of India Act has that effect. 178 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OE INDIA We think it necessary to exclude juries and assessors mainly because of the terrorism to which they are liable. But terrorism apart, we do not think that they can be relied upon in this class of cases. They are too much inclined to be affected by public discus- sion. We omit the detailed discussion of these provisions in which the committee has attempted to soften the sting of these recommendations by giving their reasons and by suggesting certain safeguards against their abuse. The most startling of their recommendations are however made under the head of emergency preventive measures. Emergency Preventive Measures. We have been forced to the conclusion that it is necessary, in order to keep the conspiracies already described under control in the future, to provide for the continuance after the expiry of the Defence of India Act (though in the contingent form explained and under important limitations) of some of the powers which that measure introduced in a temporary form. By those means alone has the conspiracy been paralysed for the present and we are unable to devise any expedient operating according to strict judicial forms which can be relied upon to prevent its reviving to check it if it does revive, or, in the last resort, to suppress it anew. This will involve some infringement of the rules normally safeguarding the liberty of the subject. We have endeavored to make that infringement as small as we think possible consistently with the production of an effective scheme. Existing Temporary Powers. The powers at present temporarily possessed by the Government are so far as material for the present purpose to be found in rules 3-7 inclusive and 12A under the Defence of India Act, 191 5. We do not refer for the present to REPRESSIVE LEGISLATION I7g the Foreigners Ordinance, 1914, or the Ingress into India Ordinance, 1914. . . . Shortly stated, their effect is to give power to require persons by executive order to remain in any area to be specified or not to enter or remain in any such area, with penalties for breach of such requirements. These orders may be made and served on the person affected, whereupon they become binding upon him, or the person may be arrested without warrant and detained for a period not exceeding in all one month, pending an order of restriction. There is also a power of search under search warrant. It will be observed there is no pro- vision for an examination of the cases of such persons. The decision lies solely with the Local Government. There is also the power of confinement under Regula- tion III of 1818. Again: ''Two Grades of Powers Desirable. — We now proceed to elaborate . . . the scheme we suggest. "We think, as we have already indicated, that the powers to be acquired should be of two grades capable of being called into operation separately, possibly under different forms of notification. " The first group of powers should be of the following nature: — " (i) to demand security with or without sureties; " (ii) to restrict residence or to require notification of change of residence; " (iii) to require abstention from certain acts, such as engaging in journalism, distributing leaflets or attending meetings; " (iv) to require that the person should periodically report to the police. ''The second group of powers should be — "(i) to arrest; "(ii) to search under warrant; " (iii) to confine in non-penal custody. l8o THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA "In Article 196 they provide "that in respect of acts committed before the Defence of India Act expires (or an earlier date if preferred) and danger apprehended by reason of such acts in the future it should be lawful to proceed against any person under any of the pro- visions which we have outlined without any notifica- tion. In other words, the new law is to be deemed to be operative for that purpose immediately." Articles 198 and 199 suggest measures for restricting "Ingress into India" and also for regulating and restricting "Inter-Provincial Movements." Need it be said that if these recommendations are accepted there will be no liberty of press or speech in India and the Reform will fail to suppress the revolu- tionary movement at all. Indian opinion is unanimous in condemning these recommendations as has been proved by the unanimous opposition of all sections of Indians in the Viceroy's Legislative Council to the bills that have been introduced to give effect to them. XV THE REVOLUTIONARY PARTY Revolution is a fever brought about by the constant and reckless disregard of the laws of health in the government of a country. David Lloyd George "Causes and Aims of the War." Speech delivered at Glasgow, on being presented with the freedom of that city, June 29, 1917. The authors of the report remark: ''There exists a small revolutionary party deluded by hatred of British rule and desire for the elimination of the Englishman into the belief that the path to independence or constitutional liberty lies through anarchical crime. Now it may be that such persons will see for themselves the wisdom of abandoning methods which are as futile as criminal; though if they do not, the powers of the law are or can be made sufficient for the maintenance of order. But the existence of such people is a warning against the possible consequences of unrestrained agitation in India. We are justified in calling on the political leaders, in the work of education that they will under- take, to bear carefully in mind the political inexperience of their hearers; and to look for further progress not to fiery agitation which may have consequences quite beyond their grasp, but to the machinery which we i8i l82 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDLA devise for the purpose. In every country there will be persons who love agitation for agitation's sake or to whom it appeals like an intoxicant. It is the duty of the leaders of Indian opinion to remember the effect on people not accustomed to weighing words of fiery and heated speeches. Where ignorance is wide- spread and passions are so easily aroused, nothing is easier than for political leaders to excite a storm; nothing harder for them than to allay it. Breaches of the peace or crimes of violence only put back the political clock. Above all things, when the future of India depends upon co-operation among all races, attacks upon one race or religion or upon another jeopardise the whole experiment. Nor can the con- demnation of extremist and revolutionary action be left only to the official classes. We call upon all those who claim to be leaders to condemn with us and to support us in dealing with methods of agitation which drive schoolboys to crime and lead to religious and agrarian disturbance. Now that His Majesty's Govern- ment have declared their policy, reasonable men have something which they can oppose successfully to the excitement created by attacks on Government and by abuse of Englishmen, coupled with glowing and inaccurate accounts of India's golden past and appeals to race hatred in the name of religion. Many promi- nent Indians dislike and fear such methods. A new opportunity is now being offered to combat them; and we expect them to take it. Disorder must be prejudicial to the cause of progress and especially disorder as a political weapon." We are in general agreement with the sentiments expressed in this extract but we will be wanting in candour if we fail to point out that, though the revolu- tionary movement in India is mainly political, it is partly economic and partly anarchic also. In the first two aspects it is at present the product of purely THE REVOLUTIONARY PARTY 1 83 local (Indian) conditions. In the last, it is the reaction of world forces. While we are hoping that the change in the poHcy, now announced, will remove the pohtical basis of it, we are not quite sure that that will ensure the extermination of the party or the total destruction of the movement. The growth of democratic political institutions in India must inevitably be followed by a movement for social democracy. The spirit of Revolu- tion which is now fed by political inequalities will, when these are removed, find its sustenance in social inequalities. That movement may not be anti- British; perhaps it will not be, but that it will have some revolutionary element in it may be assumed. The lessons of history make it clear that the most effective way to prevent its falling into channels of violence is to have as little recourse to coercion as may be consistent with the preservation of general order and peace. The preservation of order and the unhindered exercise of private rights by all citizens is the pre-requisite condition to good government. Every government must see to it. It is their duty to use preventive as well as punitive methods. There are, however, ways of doing these things. One is the British, the American and the French way.^ The other is what was heretofore associated with the name of the late Czar. The third is the German way. We hope the lessons of Czarism will not be lost on either party. The governments have as much to learn from it as the peoples. The best guarantee against the abnormal growth of a revolutionary movement is to adopt and follow the British methods and to avoid 1 By this we do not mean those that were adopted during the war. 184 THE POLITICAL rUTIIRE OF INDIA scrupulously and without fail any approach to the discredited Russian or Prussian methods. The Indian soil and the Indian atmosphere are not very congenial for revolutionary ideas and revolu- tionary methods. The people are too docile, gentle, law-abiding and spiritually inclined to take to them readily. They are by nature and tradition neither vindictive nor revengeful. Their general spirit is opposed to all kinds of violence. They have little faith in the virtues of force. Unless they are provoked, and that too terribly, and are face to face with serious danger they do not like the use of force, even when recourse to it may be legal and morally defensible. One of the causes of the growth of the revolutionary movement in India has been the insolence and the incivility of the European Community towards the Indian Community. The charges of cowardice so often hurled against the Bengali have played no insignificant part in the genesis of the Bengal revolu- tionary. The distinguished authors have put it rather mildly: ^'If there are Indians who really desire to see India leave the empire, to get rid of English ofiicers and English commerce, we believe that among their springs of action will be found the bitterness of feeling that has been nurtured out of some manifestation that the Englishman does not think the Indian an equal. Very small seeds casually thrown may result in great harvests of political calamity. We feel that, particu- larly at the present stage of India's progress, it is the plain duty of every Englishman and woman, ofl&- cial and non-ofiicial, in India to avoid the offence and the blunder of discourtesy: and none the less is it incumbent on the educated Indian to cultivate patience THE REVOLUTIONARY PARTY 185 and a more generous view of what may very likely be no more than heedlessness or difference of custom." We admire the dignified way in which they have addressed their advice to the educated Indian. But we hope they do not ignore that except in a few scattered instances heretofore the chief fault has lain with the ruling class. The proceedings of the Royal Commission on the Public Services of India are full of that racial swagger which the authors of this report have mildly condemned in the above extract and it is an open secret that that spirit was one of the dearly cherished articles of faith with the bureaucracy. We hope the war has effected a great change in their temper and both parties will be disposed to profit from the advice given to them in the report. As to the duty of the educated leaders in the matter of suppressing the growth of the revolutionary move- ment in future, we beg to point out that all depends on how much faith the governing classes place in the professions of the popular leaders. Open public speeches and meetings appealing to racial or religious animosities have not played any important part in the development of the revolutionary spirit. It is not likely that the educated leaders will in any way consciously and voluntarily digress from the limits of reasonable criticism of Government policy, nor have they very often done so in the past. What has so far prevented the educated leaders from exercising an effective check on the growth of the revolutionary movement is their inability to associate on terms of friendship with the younger generation. This has been due partly to a false idea of dignity and partly to the fear that any association with hot-headed young 1 86 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA men might bring discredit on them or might land them in hot water if, sometime or other, any one of their friends might do anything violent. Public speeches denouncing the revolutionary propaganda and the revolutionary activities or public condemnation of the latter in the press are good in their own way, but they are not quite effective. The revolutionist may ascribe it to fear, timidity, or hypocrisy. What is needed is that educated leaders of influence should be free to mix, socially and otherwise, with the younger generation so as to acquire an intimate knowledge of their trend of thought and bent of mind. It is in these intimate exchanges of views that the}^ can most effectively exercise their powers of argument and persuasion and use their influence effectively. They will not succeed always, but in a good many cases they will. This cannot be done, however, unless the Executives and the Police relax their attentions toward them. The bureaucrats' want of confidence in any Indian leader reached its limit in the attentions which the agents of the secret service bestowed on such men as the late Mr. Gokhale. It is an open secret that the secret service records have assigned a particular number to every public leader in India. Religious preachers and teachers of the type of Lala Hansraj and Lala Munshi Ram receive as much attention in the records as the writer of this book or Mr. B. G. Tilak or Mr. Bepin Chandra Pal. The "Servants of India" are as much the objects of solicitation on the part of the secret service men as the members of the Arya Samaj. Of course, agitators are agitators. All the great progressive souls of the world have had to i THE REVOLUTIONARY PARTY 1 87 agitate at one time or another in their lives. Agitation is the soul of democracy. There can be no progress in a democracy without agitation. Sir Denzil Ibbetson could pay no greater compliment to the Arya Samaj than by his remark in 1907 that, according to his information, wherever there was an Arya Samaj it was a centre of unrest. We hope the Governments are now convinced that the Arya Samaj has never been revolutionary. It is one of the most conservative, restraining forces in the social Hfe of the country. Yet it cannot be denied that its propaganda has been and will continue to be one of the most disturbing factors in the placid waters of Indian life. The bureaucracy could not look upon it with kindness. Any attempt to persist in this kind of control or check or persecution will be fatal to the success of the appeal which Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford have addressed to the public men of India in the extract given above. In our judgment the most effective way to check the growth of the revolutionary movement is by freeing the mind of the leaders of the fear of being misunderstood if they should mix freely with the younger generation and yet fail to prevent some of them from becoming revolutionists. A revolutionary prospers on exclusiveness. Secrecy is his great ally. Cut off a young man from open, healthy influences and he will be attracted by the mystery of secrecy. Thence- forth he is doomed. After that he may be weaned only by kindness and friendliness and not by threats or persecution. Most of the youths attracted by revolutionary propaganda have proved to be quite ignorant of the real conditions of their country. No 1 88 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA attempt has been made to instruct them in politics. They have been fed on unsound history and unsound poHtics. Reactionary Imperiahsm has harmed them more than exaggerated nationaHsm. They have had few opportunities of discussion with people who could look upon things in right perspective. They could not open their minds to their European teachers. In the few cases in which they did they repented. Somehow or other, the free confidential talks they had with their professors found an entry in the police records. It brought a black mark against their names, to stand and mar their careers forever. The Indian teacher and professor is afraid of discussing politics with them. So they go on unrestrained until the glamour of prospective heroism, by a deed of violence, fascinates one of them and he is led into paths of crimes of a most detestable kind. Unscrupu- lous advisors lead him toward falsehood, hypocrisy, treachery, treason and crime by dubious methods. One of the things they preach is that morality has nothing to do with politics. They insinuate that the violence of militarism and Imperialism can be effec- tively met and checked only by violence. Poor misguided souls! They enforce their advice by the diplomatic history of Europe. They forget that once a youth is led into the ways of falsehood and unscrupu- lousness he may as easily use it against his friends as against his enemies. If he has no scruples about killing an enemy he may have none about killing a friend. If he has no scruples about betraying the one, he may have none about betraying the other. Once a man starts toward moral degeneration, even for desirable or patriotic ends, there is no knowing whither his THE REVOLUTIONARY PARTY 1 89 course might take him. The most idealistic young men starting with the highest and purest conceptions of patriotism have been known to fall into the most ignoble methods of attacking first their enemies and then their friends. When they reach that stage of moral corruption they can trust no one, can believe in the honesty of no one. Their one idea of cleverness and efficiency is to conceal their motives from every- one, to give their confidence to no one, to suspect and distrust everyone and to aspire toward the success that consists in imposing upon all. The remedy against this lies in encouraging an open and frank discussion of politics on the part of the younger generation, with such indulgences as are due to their youth and immaturity of judgment; a systematic teaching of political history in schools and colleges; a free and open intercourse with their teachers on the clearest understanding that nothing said in discussion or in confidence will ever be used either privately or publicly against them, and an equally free and intimate intercourse with the leaders of thought and of public life in the country. These latter must be freed from the attentions of the secret service if it is intended that they should effectually cooperate in counteracting revolutionary propaganda. Besides, the younger gen- eration must be brought up in habits of manly and open encounter with their adversaries, in a spirit of sport and fair play. Repression, suppression, and suspicion do not provide a congenial climate for the development of these habits and they should be subordinated as much as possible in the present condi- tion of chaotic conflict between social interests and social ideals. XVI EDUCATION In the previous chapters we have embodied and discussed the important parts of the Report of Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford. In this chapter we give a summary of what they say about education. The statements of fact made by the two distinguished statesmen are so lucid and fair that we make no apology for copying the whole article embodying the same. ''There is, however, one aspect of the general problem of political advance which is so important as to require notice in some detail. We have observed already that one of the greatest obstacles to India's political develop- ment lies not only in the lack of education among its peoples taken as a whole, but also in the uneven distribution of educational advance. The educational policy of Government has incurred much criticism from different points of view. Government is charged with neglect, because after sixty years of educational effort only 6 per cent, of the population is literate, while under 4 per cent, of the total population is undergoing instruction. It is charged, on the other hand, with having given to those classes which wel- comed instruction a system which is divorced from their needs in being purely literary, in admitting methods of unintelligent memorising and of cramming, and in producing, far in excess of the actual demands of Indian conditions, a body of educated young men whose training has prepared them only for Govern- ment service or the practice of law. The system of 190 EDtrCATION igi university education on Western lines is represented as cutting off the students from the normal life of the country, and the want of connection between primary education in the vernaculars and higher education in English is regarded as another radical defect." The period of sixty years mentioned is evidently counted from 1858, the year in which the rule of the East India Company ceased and the Crown assumed direct responsibility for the Government of India. British rule in India however began in 1757 a.d. and the foundation of public education in India under the British might well be considered to have been laid by Warren Hastings in 1781, in which year the Cal- cutta Madrassa was established. For a period of almost 50 years the discussion whether the Indians should be instructed in English or not went on until it was settled in 1835 by Lord Macaulay's famous minute in favour of English and the European system. In 1824 there were 14 public institutions in Bengal imparting education on Western lines. In the same year, i.e., in 1824, Monstuart Elphin- stone formulated a similar policy for the Bombay presidency. To the remarks made in the above quotation about the extent and kind of education imparted in India till now, the distinguished authors of the report add: ''From the economic point of view India had been handicapped by the want of professional and technical instruction: her colleges turn out numbers of young men qualified for Government clerkships while the real interests of the country require, for example, doctors and engineers in excess of the existing supply.^ The charge that Government has produced a large intelli- gentsia which cannot find employment has much 192 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA substance in it: it is one of the facts that lie at the root of recent political difficulties. But it is only of late years and as part of the remarkable awakening of national self-consciousness, that the complaint has been heard that the system has failed to train Indians for practical work in manufactures, commerce, and the application of science to industrial life." After making a few general observations on the so called difficulties in the way of a general spread of education "the chief needs at present" are thus pointed out: *' Primary education, as we have seen, is already practically in the hands of local bodies, but secondary education was deliberately left at the outset almost entirely to private agencies. The universities, despite their connection with Government, are largely non- official bodies with extensive powers. ^ The main defect of the system is probably the want of co-ordina- tion between primary and higher education, which in turn reacts upon the efficiency of the secondary institu- tions and to a great extent confines university colleges to the unsatisfactory function of mere finishing schools. The universities have suffered from having been allowed to drift into the position of institutions that are expected not so much to educate in the true sense as to provide the student with the means of entering an official or a professional career. Thus a high percentage of failures seems to a large body of Indian opinion not so much a proof of the faultiness of the methods of teaching as an example of an almost capri- cious refusal of the means of obtaining a living wage to boys who have worked for years often at the cost of real hardship to secure an independent livelihood. The educational wastage is everywhere excessive; 1 We do not accept this statement. The Government controls the policy of the universities to such an extent as virtually to make them ofdcial institutions. EDUCATION 193 and analysis shows that it is largely due to under- payment and want of proper training in the case of teachers. The actual recruits for normal schools are too often ill-prepared, and the teaching career, which in India used formerly to command respect, does not now offer adequate inducements to men of abihty and force of character. The first need, therefore, is the improvement of teaching. Until that is attained it is vain to expect that the continuation of studies from the primary stage can be made attractive. But while the improvement of primary and middle schools is the first step to be taken, very much remains to be done in reorganising the secondary teachers and ensuring for the schoolmaster a career that will satisfy an intelligent man. The improvement of ordinary second- ary education is obviously a necessary condition for the development of technical instruction and the reform of the university system. It is clear that there is much scope for an efficient and highly trained inspectorate in stimulating the work of the secondary schools and in helping the inspectorate of the primary schools maintained by the local bodies. We believe that the best minds in India, while they feel that the educational service has not in the past been widely enough opened to Indians trained at British univer- sities, value the maintenance of a close connection with educationists from the United Kingdom. ''This survey of educational problems will show how much room there is for advance and improvement, and also how real the difficulties are. The defects of the present system have often been discussed in the legislative councils, but, as was inevitable so long as the councils had no responsibility, without due appre- ciation of financial difficulties, or serious consideration of the question how far fresh taxation for educational improvement would be acceptable. As we shall show, it is part of the political advance that we contemplate that the direction of Indian education should be increasingly transferred to Indian hands. Only so, we believe, can the stimulus be forthcoming which will 194 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA enable the necessary money to be found. The weak points are recognised. A real desire for improvement exists. Educational extension and reform must in- evitably play an important part in the political progress of the country. We have already made clear our conviction that political capacity can come only through the exercise of political responsibility; and that mere education without opportunities must result in serious mischief. But there is another important element. Progress must depend on the growth of electorates and the intelligent exercise of their powers; and men will be immensely helped to become competent electors by acquiring such education as will enable them to judge candidates for their votes, and of the business done in the councils. No one would propose to prescribe an educational qualification for the vote; but no one can deny the practical diffi- culties which make a very general extension of the franchise impossible, until literacy is far more widely spread than is the case at present Progress was temporarily interrupted by uncertainty as to the distribution of financial resources which would result from the constitutional changes; but the imminence of these has given a new importance to the question and its consideration has been resumed. We trust that impetus will thus be given to a widespread move- ment which will be taken up and carried forward boldly by the reformed councils." The subject has been so fairly dealt with, the defects of the present system so frankly recognised and the need of wider dissemination of education so forcibly explained that we need add nothing. In our judgment the circumstances and conditions under which it is proposed to transfer the direction of Indian education to Indian hands are extremely unfair. It is admitted that under the present economic conditions of the Indian people, there is little scope EDUCATION igt^ for further taxation. If so, there are only two ways to find money for education, (a) by economy in the other departments of public administration, (b) by loans. The recommendation made by the Secretary of State and the Viceroy for an increase in the emolu- ments of the European services hardly leaves any room for (a). We have discussed the matter at some length in another chapter. The only other source left, then, is by incurring debt. Education is so important and so fundamental to the future progress of the country that in our judgment the ministers should feel no hesitation in having recourse to it, but the problem is so gigantic that, lacking material reduction in the cost of administration in other depart- ments, it will be extremely difficult to meet the situation without an unreasonable increase in the public debt. Anyway, under the scheme recommended, the Govern- ment cannot divest itself of the fullest responsibility in the matter. The scheme gives no vital power to the electorates or their representatives. The authority of the Executive in the matter of appropriations remains unaffected and so long as it retains the final say in the making of the Budget, the Indian ministers cannot, handicapped by so many restrictions, be held responsi- ble if the progress is slow. Our views on the problem of education in India have been expressed in a separate book to which interested readers are referred.^ We hold that it is the duty of the Government to provide free and wholesome education to every child at public cost, that education should be compulsory up to the age 2 National Education in India. 196 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA of 18. The policy of the English Education Act of 1918 ought to be applied to India, and if it cannot be done from current funds, loans should be raised for the purpose. It is a matter which brooks of no delay. The whole future of India depends upon it. Nay, the future of humanity as a whole is affected by it. The world cannot be safe for any kind of democracy, nor can the world make progress towards a better order without the active cooperation of three hundred and fifteen million Indians forming one-fifth of the human race. Not only is the world poorer by reason of India's inability to cooperate in the work of pro- gress but its present educational backwardness is a serious handicap to the rest of humanity going forward. xvn THE PROBLEM We have so far discussed the Report and such re- marks as we have made have been by way of comment. In this chapter we propose to give in brief outHne our own view of the problem. Let us first be clear about the exact nature of the Indian problem. Political institutions are, after all, only a reflection of the national mind and of national conditions. What is the end? The end is freedom to live and to live according to our own conception of what life should be, to pursue our own ideals, to develop our own civilization and to secure that unity of purpose which would distinguish us from the other nations of the world, insuring for us a position of independence and honor, of security from within and non-interference from without. We have no ambition to conquer and rule other peoples; we have no desire to exploit foreign markets; not even to impose our " kultur " and our " civilization " on others. At present we are counted among the backward peoples of the earth mainly because we are a subject people, governed by a foreign power, protected by foreign bayonets and schooled by foreign teachers. The condition of our masses is intellectually deplorable and economically miserable; our women are still in bondage and do not enjoy that freedom which their Western sisters have 197 1 98 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA won; our domestic masters, the prince and priest, are still in saddle; caste and privilege still hold some sway, yet it is not true that, taken all in all, we are really a backward people. Even in these matters we find that the difference between us and the "advanced'' nations of the world is one of degree only. Caste and privilege rule in the United States as much as in India. There is nothing in our history which can be put on the same level as the lynching of Mr. Little, the deporta- tion of Bisbee miners, the lynching of the Negroes, and other incidents of a similar nature indicative of race hatred and deep rooted colour prejudice. No nation in the world can claim an ideal state of society, in which everything is of the best. On the other hand, there are certain matters in which comparison is to our advantage. Even with the advance of drunkenness under British rule we are yet a sober nation; our standards of personal and domestic hygiene are much higher than those of the Western people; our standards of life much simpler and nobler; our social ideals more humane; and our spiritual aspirations infinitely superior. As a nation we do not believe in war or militarism or evangelism. We do not force our views on others; we have greater toleration for other people's opinions and beliefs than has any other nation in the world; we have not yet acquired that craze for posses- sions and for sheer luxurious and riotous life which marks the modern Pharisee of the West. Our people, according to their conceptions, means and oppor- tunities are kindly, hospitable, gentle, law-abiding, mutually helpful, full of respect for others, and peace loving. It is, in fact, the abnormal extent in which these qualities exist that has contributed to our political THE PROBLEM Iqq and economic exploitation by others. In India capitalism and landlordism have not yet developed as fully as they have among the civilized nations of the West. The West is in revolt against capitalism and landlordism. We do not claim that before the advent of the British there was no capitalism or landlordism in India. But we do contend that, though there was a certain amount of rivalry and competition between the diflferent castes, within the castes there was much more co5peration and fellow-feeling than there has ever been in the West. Our native governments and their underlings, the landlords, did exact a high price from the village communities for the privilege of cultivating their lands but within the village there was no inter se competition either between the tillers of the soil or between the pursuers of crafts. The gulf between the rich and the poor was not so marked as it is to-day in the West. Under the British rule and since its introduction, however, things have changed considerably. Without adopting the best features of modern life, we have been forced by circumstances, political and economic, to give up the best of our own. Village communities have been destroyed; joint and corporate bargaining has given place to individual transactions; every bit of land has been separately measured, marked and taxed; common lands have been divided; the price of land and rent has risen abnormally. The money- lender who, before the advent of British rule, held an extremely subordinate position in the village community, has suddenly come to occupy the first place. He owns the best lands and the best houses and holds the bodies and souls of the agricultur- 200 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA alists in mortgage. The villages which were gen- erally homogeneous in population, bound to each other by ties of race, blood and religion, have become heterogeneous, with nondescript people of all races and all religions who have acquired land by pur- chase. Competition has taken the place of cooper- ation. A country where social cooperation and social solidarity reigned at least within castes, within villages and within urban areas has been entirely disrupted and disintegrated by unlimited and uncon- trolled competition. India never knew any poor laws; she never needed any; nor orphan asylums, nor old age pensions and widow homes. She had no use for organized charity. Rarely did any man die for want of food or clothing, except in famines. Hos- pitality was open and was dispensed under a sense of duty and obligation and not by way of charity or kindness. The survival of the fittest had no hold on our minds. We had no factories or workshops. People worked in their own homes or shops either with their own money or with money borrowed from the money- lender. The artisans were the masters of the goods they produced and, unless otherwise agreed with the money-lender, sold them in the open market. The necessities of life, being cheap and easily procurable the artisans cared more for quality than quantity. Their work was a source of pleasure and pride as well as of profit to them. Now everything has gone, pleasure, pride, as well as profit. Where profit has remained, pleasure and pride are gone. We are on the high road to a "distinctly industrial civilization." In fact, the principal complaint of our political re- formers and free trade economists is that the British THE PROBLEM 20I Government has not let us proceed on that road at a sufficiently rapid pace and that, in preventing us, they have been dominated by their own national interests more than by our own good. We saw that other nations were progressing by following the laws of industrial development, and quite naturally we also wanted to prosper by the same method. This war has opened our eyes as it has opened those of the rest of the world and we have begun to feel that the goal that we sought leads to perdition and not salvation. This makes it necessary for the Indian politicians and economists to review their ideas of political progress. What are we aiming at? Do we want to rise, in order to fall? Do we want to copy and emulate Europe even in its mistakes and blunders? Does the road to heaven lie through hell? Must we make a wreck of our ship and then try salvage? The civilization of Europe, as we have known it, is dying. It may take decades or perhaps a century or more to die. But die it must. This War has prepared a death bed for it from which it will never rise. Upon its ruins is rising, or will rise, another civilization which will reproduce much of what was valuable and precious in our own with much of what we never had. The question that we want to put to our compatriots is, shall we prepare ourselves for the coming era, or shall we bury ourselves in the debris of the expiring one. We have no right to answer it for others, but our answer is clear and unequivocal. We will not be a party to any scheme which shall add to the powers of the capitahst and the landlord and will introduce and accentuate the evils of the expiring industrial civiliza- tion into our beloved country. 202 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA We are not unaware that, according to the judgment of some thinkers, amongst them Karl Marx, a country must pass through the capitalistic mill, before the proletariat comes to its own. We do not believe in the truth of this theory, but even if it be true we will not consciously help in proving it to be true. The existing social order of Europe is vicious and immoral. It is worm eaten. It has the germs of plague, disease, death and destitution in it. It is in a state of decom- position. It is based on injustice, tyranny, oppression and class rule. Certain phases of it are inherent in our own system. Certain others we are borrowing from our masters in order to make a complete mess. Wisdom and foresight require that we be forewarned. What we want and what we need is not the power to implant in full force and in full vigour the expiring European system, but power to keep out its develop- ment on vicious lines, with opportunities of gradually and slowly undoing the evil that has already been done. The Government of India as at present constituted is a Government of capitalists and landlords, of both England and India. Under the proposed scheme the power of the former will be reduced and that of the latter increased. The Indo-British Association does not like it, not because it loves the masses of India for which it hypocritically and insincerely professes solicitude, but because in their judgment it reduces the profits of the British governing classes. We doubt if the scheme really does affect even that. But if it does, it is good so far. The ugly feature of the scheme is not its potentiality in transferring the power into the hands of the Brah- THE PROBLEM 203 mins (the power of the Brahmin as such, is gone for good), but in the possibiUty of its giving too much power to the "profiteering" class, be they the land- lords of Bengal and Oudh, or the miUionaires of Bombay. The scheme protects the European merchants; it confers special privileges on the small European Com- munity; it provides special representation for the landlords, the Chambers of Commerce, the Moham- medans and the Sikhs. What is left for the general tax-paying public is precious little. The authors of the scheme say that to withhold complete and im- mediate Home Rule is in the interest of the general masses, the poor inarticulate ryot and the workingman. We wish we could believe in it. We wish it were true. Perhaps they mean it, but our past experience does not justify our accepting it at its face value. There is, however, one thing we can do. We can ask them for proofs by insisting on and agitating for the immediate legislative relief of the ryot and the middle classes. We should adopt the aims of the British Labour Party as our own, start educating our people on those lines and formulate measures which will secure for them real freedom and not the counterfeit coin which passes for it. It will require years of education and agitation but it has to be done, no matter whether we are ruled by the British or by our own property holders. We are not opposed to Home Rule. Nay, we press for it. In our judgment the objections urged against giving it at once are flimsy and intangible. The chief obstacles are such as have been created or perpetuated by the British themselves. The caste does not prevent us from having at least as much home rule as is enjoyed by the people of 204 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA Italy, Hungary, the Balkan States and some of the South American Republics. But if we cannot have it at once and if the British must retain the power of final decision in their hands, we must insist upon something being immediately done not only to educate the ryot but to give him economic relief. So long as the British continue to refuse to do that we must hold them responsible for all the misery that Indian humanity is suffering from. We want political power in order to raise the in- tellectual and political status of our masses. We do not want to bolster up classes. Our goal is real liberty, equality and opportunity for all. We want to avoid, if possible, the evils of the class struggle. We will pass through the mill if we must, but we should like to try to avoid it. For that reason we want freedom to legislate and freedom to determine our fiscal arrange- ments. That is our main purpose in our demand for Home Rule. XVIII THE INTERNATIONAL ASPECT Thus far we have discussed the Indian question from the internal or national point of view. But it has an international aspect also. It is said, and we hope that it is true, that the world is entering into an era of new internationalism and that the old exclusive chauvinistic nationalism is in its last gasps. This war was the greatest social mix-up known to history. It has brought about the downfall of many monarchs and the destruction of four empires. The armies of the belligerents on both sides contained the greatest assortment of races and nations, of religions and languages that were ever brought together for mutual destruction. Primarily a fight between the European Christians, it drew into its arena Hindus, Mohamme- dans, Buddhists, Shintos, Jews and Negroes of Africa and America. The war has produced a revolution in Russia, the like of which has never been known. It is now said openly that the Russian Revolution had as much influence on the final debacle of the Central Powers as the strength of the Allies and the resources of America. The revolution has spread to Germany and Austria and threatens to engulf the whole of Europe. It has given birth to a new order of society, aglow with the spirit of a new and elevated kind of internationalism. 205 2o6 THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF INDIA This internationalism must have for its foundation justice and self-determination for all peoples, regardless of race or religion, creed or color. In the new under- standing between nations cooperation must be sub- stituted for competition and mutual trust and helpful- ness for distrust and exploitation of the weaker by the stronger. The only alternatives are reaction, with the certainty of even greater war in the near future, and Bolshevism. Now, nobody knows what Bolshevism represents. The Socialists themselves are divided over it. The advanced wing is enthusiastic, the moderates are denouncing it. The Liberals and Radicals are freely recognizing that it has brought into the affairs of men a new spirit which is going to stay and substantially influence the future of the world. The stand-patters denounce it in the strongest possible terms. They calumniate it to their heart's content and move heaven and earth to exterminate it. But we feel that only radical changes in the existing order will stem its tide. The Socialists and Radicals want to make the most of it, while the Imperialist Liberals and Conservatives want to give as little as is compatible with the safety of the existing order in which they are supreme. The struggle will take some time, but that it will end in favor of the new spirit no one doubts. The only way to meet Bolshevism is to concede rights to the different peoples of the earth now being bled and exploited. Otherwise the discontented and exploited countries of the world will be the best breeding centres for it. India must come into her own soon, else not even the Himalayas can effectually bar the entry of Bolshevism into Indi^. A contented, THE INTERNATIONAL ASPECT 207 self-governing India may be proof against it; a discon- tented, dissatisfied, oppressed India perhaps the most fertile field. We hope the British statesmen are alive to the situation. But that is not the only way to look at the inter- national importance of India. By its geographical situation it is the connecting link between the Near East and the Far East and the clearing house for the trade of the world. Racially, it holds the balance between the European Aryan and the yellow races. In any military conflict between the white and the yellow races, the people of India will be a decisive factor. In a conflict of peace they will be a harmonising element. Racially they are the kin of the European. By religion and culture they are nearer the Chinese and Japanese. With 70 million Moslems India is the most important centre of Mohammedan sentiment. With Christians as their present rulers, the Hindus and Mohammedans of India are coming to realise that their best interests require a closing up of their ranks. There is no doubt that, come what may, their relations in future will be much more cordial, friendly and mutually sympathetic than they have been in the past. The Hindus will stand by their Mohammedan countrymen in all their efforts to revive the glory of Islam, and to regain political independence for it. There is no fear of a Pan-Islamic movement if the new spirit of interna- tionalism prevails. If, however, it does not, the Pan-Islamic movement might find a sympathetic soul in India. Islam is not dead. It cannot and will not die. The only way to make it a force for harmony and peace is to recognise its potentialities and to 2o8 THE POLITICAL FUTtTRE OF INDIA respect its susceptibilities. The political independence of Islamic countries is the basic foundation for such a state. We hope that the statesmen of the world will give their most earnest thought to the question and sincerely put into practice the principles they have been eViunciating during the war. The case of India will be an acid test. A happy India will make a valuable contribution to the evolution of a better and more improved humanity. An unhappy India will clog the wheels of progress. It will not be easy for the masters of India to rule it on old lines. If not reconciled it might prove the pivot of the next war. A happy India will be one of the brightest spots in the British Commonwealth. A discontented India will be a cause of standing shame and a source of never ending trouble. With a republican China in the northeast, a con- stitutional Persia in the northwest and a Bolshevist Russia in the not remote north, it will be extremely foolish to attempt to rule India despotically. Not even the gods can do it. It is not possible even if the legislature devotes all its sittings to the drafting and passing of one hundred coercion acts. The peace of the world, international harmony and good-will, the good name of the British Commonwealth, the safety of the Empire as such, demand the peaceful introduc- tion and development of democracy in India. APPENDIX A A SYNOPSIS OF THE INDIAN INDUSTRIAL COMMISSIONERS' REPORT A bureaucracy has the fatal tendency of perpetuating itself and of making itself indispensable. As a result, we find that the prospects and powers of the bu- reaucracy become more important than even the purposes for which it exists. It is a commonplace of politics that a state exists for the people comprising it, and that the servants of the state are the servants of the people. They are the tools which the body politic uses for its corporate life. Even in self-governed countries the tendency of glorifying the state and the servants of the state at the cost of the people is not uncommon, though the fact is not, or rarely, if at all, admitted in so many words. In dependencies and countries governed by a foreign bureaucracy, however, this fact is undisguisedly kept before the people and they are openly and frankly told that the powers and prospects of the servants of the govern- ment are of greater consequence and importance than the wishes and welfare of the people. This is amply illustrated by the extravagant scale on which the government of India pays its European servants and goes on adding to their privileges under all sorts of pretences and excuses. People may live or they may die for want of food, for lack of knowledge of the ordinary laws of hj^giene, for lack of employment, but the bureaucrats must enjoy their princely salaries, their hill allowances, their furlough, and traveUing and leave perquisites, promotions and pensions. If the cost of living increases, they must get a raise in their salaries, no matter how the increased cost of 209 210 APPENDIX living affects the general body of the people. Besides, they must have their pensions, as their children are infinitely more important than those of the tax-payer. We have already reproduced and discussed the recommendations of the Secretary of State for India and the Viceroy, about the European members of the Indian services. The Viceroy has only recently emphasized the importance of a substantial increase in their salaries, although there is a deficit of 20 miUion dollars in the budget estimates for the next year. That is an old story, however. What we are imme- diately concerned with are the recommendations of the Indian Industrial Commission, in favor of creating a new branch of public service divided into the in- evitable Imperial and Provincial branches, for further- ing the industrial development of the country. Our meaning will be clear as we proceed. The Indian Industrial Commission was appointed by the Government of India "to examine and report upon the possibilities of further industrial develop- ment in India and to submit its recommendations with special references to the following questions: — (a) whether new openings for the profitable employment of Indian capital in commerce can be indicated. (b) whether, and if so, in what manner, govern- ment can usefully give direct encouragement to industrial development, 1. by rendering technical advice more freely available; 2. by the demonstration of the possibility, on a commercial scale, of particular industries ; 3. by affording, directly, or indirectly, financial assistance to industrial enter- prise; or 4. by any other means which are not incom- patible with the existing fiscal policy of the government of India, APPENDIX 211 The tariff question was excluded from the scope of the Commission's inquiries, though it was expressed that the ''building up of industries where the capital, control and management should be in the hands of the Indians" was the ''special object'' which the government had in view. The Government spokesman in the meeting of the Legislative Council at which the appointment of the Commission was announced further emphasized "that it was of immense import- ance, alike to India herself and to the Empire as a whole, that Indians should take a larger share in the industrial development of their country." He "dep- recated the taking of any steps, if it might merely mean that the manufacturer who now competes with you from a distance would transfer his activities to India and compete with you within your boundaries." The Commission has now submitted its report which has been published as a Parliamentary blue book in a bulky volume of about 500 pages including a separate lengthy note by one of the leading Indian members of the Commission. The note is, in our judgment, very valuable, as it gives the Indian point of view of the industrial problem in such a lucid and exhaustive way as to leave no room for doubt as to what articulate India thinks in the matter. The note does not express only the personal opinion of the author but the considered views of the Indian Nationalist Party. Both the report and the note have been the source of much personal gratification to us as they corroborate and confirm to an extraordinary extent what the author said in his book "England's Debt to India," though the report is by no means free from fallacies and one- sided statements of fact and opinions. II In the words of the summary prefixed to the report: "The first chapters of the report deal with India as an mdustrial couiit^y, her present position, and 212 APPENDIX her potentialities. They show how Httle the march of modern industry has affected the great bulk of the Indian population, which remains engrossed in agri- culture, winning a bare subsistence from the soil by antiquated methods of cultivation. Such changes as have been wrought in rural areas are the effects of economic rather than of industrial evolution. In certain centers the progress of Western industrial methods is discernible; and a number of these are described in order to present a picture of the con- ditions under which industries are carried on, attention being drawn to the shortage and to the general in- efficiency of Indian labor and to the lack of an in- digenous supervising agency. Proposals are made for the better exploitation of the forests and fisheries. In discussing the industrial deficiencies of India, the report shows how unequal the industrial development of our industries has been. Money has been invested in commerce rather than industries, and only those industries have been taken up which appeared to offer safe and easy profits. Previous to the war, too ready reliance was placed on imports from overseas, and this habit was fostered by the Government practice of purchasing stores in England. India produces nearly all the raw materials necessary for the requirements of a modern community; but is unable to manufacture many of the articles and materials necessary alike in times of peace and war. For instance, her great textile industries are dependent upon supplies of imported machinery and would have to shut down if command of the seas were lost. It is vital, therefore, for the Government to ensure the establishment of those industries in India whose absence exposes us to grave danger in event of war. The report advocates the introduction of modern methods of agriculture and in particular of labor-saving devices. Greater effi- ciency in cultivation, and in the preparation of produce for the market would follow; labor now wastefully employed would be set free for industries and the establishment of shops foi the manufacture and repair APPENDIX 213 of machinery would lead to the growth of a huge engineering industry." The summarized statements will be made more clear by the following extracts from Chapter I on rural India. "Famine connotes not so much a scarcity or entire absence of food as high prices and a lack of employ- ment in the affected areas, . . . The capital in the hands of the country traders has proved insufficient to finance the ordinary movements of crops and the seasonal calls for accommodations from the main financial centers are constantly increasing. This lack of available capital is one cause of the high rates that the ryot has to pay for the ready money which he needs to buy seed and to meet the expenses of cultivation. On the other hand, money is largely invested in the purchase of landed property, the price of which has risen to very high figures in many parts of the country. . . . But the no less urgent necessity of relieving the ryot from the enormous load of debt with which he has been burdened by the dearness of agricultural capital, the necessity of meeting periodic demands for rent and his social habits, has hitherto been met only to a very small extent by co-operative organization. "The farmer, owing partly to poverty and partly to the extreme sub-division of the land, is very often a producer on so small a scale that it is practically impossible for him to take his crops to the larger markets where he can sell at current rates to the agents of the bigger firms. ... A better market system, co-operative selling, and education are the promising remedies." Coming to the industrial centers of the country apart from the rural areas, the report says: "A characteristic feature of organised industry and commerce in all the chief Indian centers is the presence of large agency firms which, except in^ the case of Bombay, are mainly European. In addition to participating in the export and import trade, they finance and manage industrial ventures all over the 214 APPENDIX country, and often have several branches in the large towns. The importance of these agency houses may be gauged by the fact that they are in control of the majority of the cotton, jute and other mills as well as of the tea gardens and the coal mines." The general remarks about the industrial deficiency of the country will be better understood from the following extracts: ''We have already referred to the dependence of India on outside sources of sulphur and the necessity for insisting on the local smelting of her sulphide ores. In the absence of any means for producing from purely Indian sources sulphuric, nitric, and hydrochloric acids, and alkalis, our manufactures, actual or pros- pective, of paper, drugs, matches, oils, explosives, disinfectants, dyes and textiles are dependent upon imports which under war conditions, might be cut off. Sources of raw materials for heavy chemicals are deficient. The output of saltpeter could be raised to 40,000 tons per annum and supplementary supplies of nitrates could be produced, if necessary, from atmos- pheric nitrogen; but for this again, cheap electric power is needed. Salt occurs in abundance and the establishment of caustic soda manufacture, preferably by an electric process, that would also yield chlorine, is a necessary part of our chemical programme. There are available in the country, in fair quantity, many other raw materials necessary for heavy chemical manufacture, in addition to those referred to under other heads; among them may be mentioned alum, salts, barytes, borax, gypsum, limestone, magnesia, phosphates of lime and ochres. The installation of plants for the recovery of by-products in coking has recently been undertaken, but for the recovery of tar and ammonia only. The recovery of benzol and related products has so far not been attempted nor has anything been done to utilise the tar by re-distillation or other chemical treatment. "Although India exported raw rubber valued in 191 7- 1918 at 162 lakhs, rubber manufacture has not been APPENDIX 215 Started in the country and goods to the value of 116 lakhs were imported in 1917-1918. This industry is one of those that are essential in the national interest and should be inaugurated, if necessary, by special measures. "Though textile industries exist on a large scale, the range of goods produced is still narrow, and we are dependent upon foreign sources for nearly all of our miscellaneous textile requirements. In addition to these, the ordinary demands of Indian consumers necessitate the import of some Rs. 66 crores worth of cotton piece-goods, and interference with this source of supply has caused serious hardship. Flax is not yet grown in appreciable quantities and the indigenous species of so-called hemp, though abund- antly grown, are not at present used in any organized Indian industry. Our abihty to produce and to preserve many of our foodstuffs in transportable forms or to provide receptacles for mineral or vegetable oils depends upon the supply of tin plates which India at present imports in the absence of local manufactures. ''Our few paper factories before the war stood on an uncertain basis and we are still dependent upon foreign manufacture for most of the higher qualities." India produces enormous quantities of leather on a relatively small scale by modern processes; and the village tanner supplies the local needs only, and with a very inferior material. To obtain the quantities and standards of finished leather which the country requires, it will be necessary to stimulate industries by the institution of technical training and by the experimental work on a considerable scale. "Large quantities of vegetable products are exported for the manufacture of drugs, dyes and essential oils, which in many cases are re-imported into India, "The blanks in our industrial catalog are of a kind most surprising to one familiar only with the European conditions. We have already alluded generally to the basic deficiencies in our iron and steel industries 2l6 APPENDIX and have explained how, as a result, the many engineer- ing shops in India are mainly devoted to the repair or to the manufacture of, hitherto mainly from im- ported materials, comparatively simple structures, such as roofs, bridges, wagons and tanks. India can build a small marine engine and turn out a locomotive provided certain essential parts are obtained from abroad but she has not a machine to make nails or screws, nor can she manufacture some of the essential parts of electrical machinery.^ ''Electrical plant and equipment are still, therefore, imported, in spite of the fact that incandescent lamps are used by the millions and electric fans by the tens of thousands. India relies on foreign supplies of steel springs and iron chains and for wire ropes, a vital necessity of her mining industry. We have already pointed out the absence of any manufacture of textile mill accessories. The same may be said of the equipment of nearly all industrial concerns. The list of deficiencies includes all kinds of machine tools, steam engines, boilers and gas and oil engines, hydraulic presses and heavy cranes. Simple lathes, small sugar mills, small pumps, and a variety of odds and ends are made in some shops, but the basis of their manufacture and the limited scale of production do not enable them to compete with imported goods of similar character to the extent of excluding the latter. Agriculturists' and planters' tools such as ploughs, mamooties, spades, shovels and pickaxes are mainly imported as well as the hand tools of improved character used in most cottage industries, including wood-working tools, healds and reeds, shuttles and pickers. Bicycles, motor cycles and motor cars cannot at present be made in India though the imports under these heads were valued at Rs. 187 lakhs in 1913- 1914. The manufacture of common glass is carried on in various localities, and some works have turned out ordinary domestic utensils and bottles of fair quality, but no attempt has been made to produce 1 Italics are oiirs. APPENDIX 217 plate or sheet glass or indeed any of the harder kinds of commercial glass, while optical glass manufacture has never even been mooted. The extent of our de- pendence on imported glass is evidenced by the fact that in 1913-1914 this was valued at Rs. 164 lakhs. Porcelain insulators, good enough for low tension currents, are manufactured, but India does not pro- duce the higher quahties of either porcelain or china. . . . ''The list of industries which, though their products are essential alike in peace and war, are lacking in this country, is lengthy and almost ominous.^ Until they are brought into existence on an adequate scale, Indian capitalists will, in times of peace, be deprived of a number of profitable enterprises; whilst in the event of war which renders the sea transport impossible, India's all-important existing industries will be exposed to the risk of stoppage, her consumers to great hard- ship, and her armed forces to the gravest danger." In discussing the part played by Indians of all classes in the industrial development of the Country the Commission observes: *'It is obvious that the great obstacles are the lack of even vernacular education and the low standard of comfort. The higher grade of worker, the mechani- cal artisan, in the absence of adequate education has been prevented from attaining a greater degree of skill. He finds himself where he is, less by deliberate choice than by the accident of his obtaining work at some railway or other engineering shop, or by the possession of a somewhat more enterprising spirit than his fellows. There is at present only very in- adequate provision for any form of technical training to supplement the experience that he can gain by actual work in an engineering shop, while the generally admitted need for a more trustworthy and skillful type of man is at present met by importing charge- men and foremen from abroad." * Italics are ours. 2l8 APPENDIX In short, the industrial deficiencies of India are directly due to (a) lack of education, general, scientific, and technical. (b) lack of encouragement by the Government which has so far deliberately purchased most kinds of stores needed for government re- quirements from England. The agricultural deficiencies are due to the same causes plus the poverty of the ryot and his inability to secure the capital necessary for improvements on reasonable terms of interest. Yet, in spite of this we find the Commission laying unwarranted emphasis upon the creation of new posts divided into Imperial and Provincial branches for Industrial, Agricultural, and scientific experts. One should have thought that the first recommendation should be the imme- diate inauguration of general education throughout the country with adequate provision for technical, scientific, agricultural and commercial instruction. ' The industrial development of the country needs these things: (i) general education, (2) cheap capital (3) skilled labor, (4) protection against improper foreign competition. Expert advice and research are needed very much, but no amount of research or expert advice will advance the cause of industries unless the level of general intelligence has been raised and some provision made for cheap capital and skilled labor. Says the Honorable Malaviya in his separate note: "If the industries of India are to develop, and Indians to have a fair chance in the competition to which they are exposed, it is essential that a system of education at least as good as that of Japan should be introduced in India. I am at one with my col- leagues in urging the fundamental necessity of pro- viding primary education for the artisan and laboring population. No system of industrial and technical education can be reared except on that basis. But the artisan and laboring population do not stand apart APPENDIX 210 from the rest of the community; and therefore if this sine qua non of industrial efficiency and economic progress is to be established it is necessary that pri- mary education should be made universal. I agree also in urging that drawing and manual training should be introduced into primary schools as soon as possible. In my opinion, until primary education is made uni- versal, if not compulsory, and until drawing is made a compulsory subject in all primary schools, the foundation of a satisfactory system of industrial and technical education will be wanting. Of course this will require time. But I think that that is exactly why an earnest endeavor should be made in this direction without any further avoidable delay." In support of his opinion he quotes the following pertinent observation of Mr. Samuelson: "In conclusion, I have to state my deep conviction that the people of India expect and demand of their government the design, organization and execution of systematic technical education and there is urgent need for it to bestir itself, for other nations have already sixty years' start of us, and have produced several generations of educated workmen. Even if we begin to-morrow the technical education of all the youths of twelve years of age, who have received sound ele- mentary education, it will take seven years before these young men can commence the practical business of life and then they will form but an insignificant mi- nority in an uneducated mass. It will take fifteen years before those children who have not yet begun to receive an elementary education shall have passed from the age of 7 to 21 and represent a completely trained generation; and even then they will find less than half of their comrades educated. In the race of nations, therefore, we shall find it hard to overtake the sixty years that we have lost. To-morrow, then let us undertake with all our energy oar neglected task; the urgency is twofold — a small proportion of our youth has received elementary education, but no technical education: for that portion let us at once 220 APPENDIX organize technical schools in every small town, tech- nical colleges in every large town and a technical university in the metropolis. The rest of the rising generation has received no education at all, and for them let us at once organize elementary education, even if compulsory." To provide for a new department of experts on a lavish scale before making an adequate provision for general education is putting the cart before the horse. This has been pointed out in a very able article by one of our premier scientists (who has taken a leading part in the development of Indian industries) pub- lished in the Modern Review^ Calcutta, for March, 1919. Says Sir P. C. Roy: "We always begin at the wrong end. I should be the last person to disparage the necessity for scientific research. The simple fact is, however, overlooked that our agricultural population, steeped in ignorance and illiteracy and owning only small plots and scat- tered holdings, are not in a position to take advantage of or utiUze the elaborate scientific researches which lie entombed in the bulletins and transactions of these Institutes. Mr. Mackenna very rightly observes: The Famine Commissioners, so long ago as 1880, expressed the view that no general advance in the agricultural system can be expected until the rural population had been so educated as to enable them to take a practical interest in agricultural progress and reform. These views were confirmed by the Agri- cultural Conference of 1888. The most important and probably the soundest proposition laid down by the Conference was that it was most desirable to extend primary education amongst agricultural classes. Such small countries as Denmark, Holland and Belgium are in a position to send immense supplies of cheese, butter, eggs, etc., to England, because the farmers there are highly advanced in general enlightenment and technical education and are thus in a position to profit by the researches of experts. The peasant APPENDIX 2 21 proprietors of France are equally fortunate in this respect; over and above the abundant harvest of cereals they grow vine and oranges and have been highly successful in sericulture; while the silk industry, in its very cradle, so to speak, namely Murshidabad and Malda, is languishing and is in a moribund con- dition. ''Various forms of cattle plague, e.g., render pest, foot and mouth disease, make havoc of our cattle every year and the ignorant masses steeped in superstitions, look helplessly on and ascribe the visitations to the wrath of the Goddess Sitala. It is useless to din Pasteur's researches into their ears. As I have said before, our Government has the happy knack of be- ginning at the wrong end. An ignorant people and a costly machinery of scientific experts ill go together. "The panacea recommended for the cure and treat- ment of all these ills is the foundation or re-organization of costly bureaus and Scientific and Technical services, the latter with the differentiation of "Imperial" and the 'Provincial' Services, which are in reality hot- beds for the breeding of racial antipathies and sedition. For the recruitment of the Scientific Services the Com- missioners coolly propose that not only senior and experienced men should be obtained at as early an age as possible, preferably not exceeding 25 years. What lamentable ignorance the Commissioners betray and what poor conception they have of this vital question is further evident from what they say: "'We should thus secure the University graduate, who had done one or perhaps two years' post-graduate work whether scientific or practical, but would not yet be confirmed in specialization. We assume that the requisite degree of specialization will be secured by adopting a system whereby study leave will be granted at some suitable time after three years, service, when a scientific ofiicer should have developed the distinct bent." In other words, secure a dark horse and wait till he develops a distinct bent! The writer 222 APPENDIX of this article naturally feels a little at home on this subject and it is only necessary to cite a few instances to illustrate how, under the proposed scheme Indians will fare. At the present moment there are four young Indian Doctors of Science of British universities, three belonging to that of London. Two of them only have been able to secure Government appointments, but these only temporary, drawing two-thirds of the grade pay. One has already given up his post in disgust because he could get no assurance that the post would be made permanent. In fact, both of them have been given distinctly to understand that as soon as the war conditions are over, permanent incumbents for these posts will be recruited at ''home." In filling up the posts of the so-called experts one very important factor is overlooked. As a rule, only third rate men care to come out to India. The choice lies between the best brains of India and the mediocres of England and yet the former get but scant consider- ation and justice. . . . The creation of so many Scientific "Imperial" services means practically so many close preserves for Europeans.' " In the chapter dealing with Industrial and Tech- nical training the Commission observes: "The system of education introduced by the Gov- ernment was, at the outset, mainly intended to provide for the administrative needs of the country and en- couraged literary and philosophic studies to the neg- lect of those of more practical character. In the result it created a disproportionate number of persons possessing purely literary education, at a time when there was hardly any form of practical education in existence. Naturally, the market value of the services of persons so educated began eventually to diminish. Throughout the nineteenth century the policy of the Government was controlled by the doctrine of laissez- faire in commercial and industrial matters, and its efforts to develop the resources of the country were largely limited to the provision of improved methods APPENDIX 22;^ of transport and the construction of irrigation works. Except in Bombay, the introduction of modern methods of manufacture was almost entirely confined to the European community. The opportunities for gaining experience were not easy for Indians to come by, and there was no attempt at technical training for indus- tries until nearly the end of the century, and then only on an inadequate scale. The non-existence of a suitable education to qualify Indians for posts re- quiring industrial or technical knowledge was met by the importation of men from Europe, who supervised and trained illiterate Indian labor in the mills and factories that were started. From this class of labor it was impossible to obtain the higher type of artisan capable of supervisory work." After pointing out the lamentable deficiency and comparative failure of the half-hearted measures so far taken by the Government to provide some kind of technical education the Commission makes certain recommendations for meeting the needs of the situ- ation, which are supplemented by some pertinent suggestions made by the Honorable Malaviya in his minority report. The aforesaid summary concludes with the following paragraph: *'To sum up, the Commission finds that India is a country rich in raw materials and in industrial possibilities, but poor in manufacturing accompHsh- ments. The deficiencies in her industrial system are such as to render her liable to foreign penetration in time of peace and to serious danger in time of war. Her labor is ineflScient, but for this reason capable of vast improvement. She relies almost entirely on foreign sources for foremen and supervisors; and her intelligentsia have yet to develop the right tradition of industrialism. Her stores of money lie inert and idle.^ The necessity of securing the economic safety of the country and the inability of the people to secure it without the co-operation and stimulation of Govern- ' Are there any such stores? If so, where? 224 APPENDIX ment impose, therefore, on Government policy of energetic intervention in industrial affairs; and to discharge the multifarious activities which this policy demands, Government must be provided with a suit- able industrial equipment in the form of imperial and provincial departments of Industries." APPENDIX B A BRIEF COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF THE PRESENT INDIAN CONSTITUTION, THE MON- TAGU-CHELMSFORD SCHEME OF REFORMS AND THE CONGRESS -LEAGUE REFORM PROPOSALS. THE PRESENT CONSTITU- TION OF INDIA Under the Government of India Act, 191S (s & 6 Geo. 5, c. 61). I. The Secretary of State IN Council (i) His Majesty's Secretary of State for India superintends, directs, and controls all acts re- lating to the government or revenues of India. He is respon- sible to Parliament. He or his Council has no legislative powers. (2) The Council of India consists of 10 to 14 members, appointed by the Secretary of State for a term of seven years; and the majority of Council must sanction expenditure of revenue and cer- tain other specified matters. In practice two of the members have been Indians since 1907. (3) The salaries of the Secretary of State, the Under-Secretaries and the Ofl&ce establishment are paid out of Indian revenues. n. The Government of India (i) General. — The Governor- General of India is appointed by the Crown. He has the absolute power of adopting, suspending or rejecting measures affecting safety, tranquillity and interest of India. (2) Executive Council. — The Ex- ecutive Council consists of five or six ordinary members appointed by the Crown generally for five years, with the Commander-in- chief as an extraordinary member. Governor-General in Council is the supreme autocratic authority in India in all administrative matters, and it directly adminis- ters certain Imperial Departments. One member of Council is now an Indian. (3) Legislative Council. — For the purpose of legislation the Council consists of all Execu- tive members with 60 additional members, of whom only 27 are elected by specified electorates by a method of indirect election. There is separate representation for Mohammedans. The Gov- ernor-General is the President of the Council. The members of the Legis- lative Council can discuss the Budget, move resolutions or ask questions, but the Executive Gov- 225 226 APPENDIX emment is not bound thereby. In other words the Legislative has no control over the purse or the acts of the Executive. Every act of the Legislative requires the assent of the Governor-General, and the Crown may also disallow the same. Besides in cases of emergency the Governor-General has the power to promulgate laws in the shape of ordinances, without refer- ence to the Legislative Council, on his own initiative or on the recommendation of Provincial Governments. These ordinances to be in force for six months. MONTAGU-CHELMSFORD SCHEME OF REFORMS I. The Secretary op State IN Council (i) His Majesty's Secretary of State to be retained, but his salary to be transferred to British Estimates. (2 & 3) A Committee is appointed to examine and report on the present constitution of the Coun- cil of India as well as the Office establishment. (The report of the Committee is not yet made.) (4) The House of Commons to be asked to appoint a Select Committee for Indian affairs. (5) Control of Parliament and the Secretary of State to be modified. II. The Government of India (i) General. — The Government of India to preserve indisputable authority on all matters relating to peace, order, and good Govern- ment. It is to remain fully autocratic as at present. A Privy Council to be estab- lished in Lidia. (2) The Executive Council. — To continue as before with maximum limit removed, but the Indian element is to be increased to two members. Government to be empowered to appoint a limited number of members (not necessarily elected) of the Legislative Coimcii as Under-Secretaries, similar to Par- liamentary Under-Secretaries in England. (3) Legislative Council. — There will be two legislative Bodies. One to be called Legislative As- sembly (with elected majority), and the other the Council of State (with official majority). The Legislative Assembly is to consist of 100 members, two-thirds of whom would be elected. Of the nominated not less than one- third should be non-officials. President to be nominated by the Governor-General. The Council of State to consist of 50 members, of whom 21 are to be elected. The Governor- General is to be the President. Bills passed by the Assembly must also be referred to the Council of State, the differences, if any, being settled by a joint session. But in cases where the interests of peace, order and good Government, including sound fi- nancial administration, are con- cerned, Governor-General shall have powers to refer a Bill to the Council of State and it will become law in the form approved by the Council of State even though it is not acceptable to the Assembly. Legislative Assembly and the Council of State may discuss the Budget, ask questions, and pass APPENDIX 227 resolutions, but they are not binding on the Executive. The Governor-General to retain his power of assenting to Acts and promulgating ordinances on his own authority. The Crown may disallow any Act. The Montagu - Chelmsford Scheme proposes periodical (de- cennial) Parliamentary inquiries to revise the constitution, both for the Central and the Provincial Governments. CONGRESS— LEAGUE RE- FORM PROPOSALS I. The Secretary of State in Council (i) The Secretary of State to be retained. But his salary to be transferred to British Estimates. (2) The Coimcil of India be abolished. (3) There should be two per- manent Under-Secretaries, one of whom should be an Indian. The charges of the Indian OflSce estab- lishment should be transferred to British Estimates. (4) The proposed Select Com- mittee of the House of Commons is not objected to. (5) The Secretary of State for India should eventually occupy the same position as the Colonial Secretary. The control of Parlia- ment and Secretary of State be modified only with the transfer of responsibility of the Govern- ment of India to the electorate. II. The Government of India (i) General. — The Government of India shall have undivided authority in matters concemmg Peace, Tranquillity and Defence of the Country; but subject to a Statutory Declaration of the rights of the people of India as British citizens, viz., that all Indians are equal before law, equally entitled to a Ucence to bear arms and to have the freedom of speech, writing, and meeting, and also the freedom of the Press, and that no one be punished or deprived of his Uberty except by a sentence of a Court of Justice. That the principle of Respon- sible Government should be ap- pUed to the Central Adminis- tration by dividing the subjects into (i) reserved (2) transferred. The reserved subjects to be ad- ministered by Government with- out popular control. The reserved subjects shall be Foreign affairs (except relations with Colonies, and Dominions), Army, Navy, and relations with Indian Ruling Princes, as well as matters af- fecting public peace, tranquillity, defence of the country subject to the Declarations of Rights men- tioned above. All other subjects should be transferred subjects — i.e., transferred to the popular control exercised by the enlarged Legislative Assembly. There should be no Privy Council. (2) Executive Council. — The Ex- ecutive Council shall consist partly of Ministers, from the Elected members of the Legislative Coun- cil, and in charge of the trans- ferred subjects; and other mem- bers nominated by the Govern- ment in charge of the reserved subjects. When there are two or more members in charge of the reserved subjects, half the num- ber shall be Indians. ^ 228 APPENDIX 3) Legislative Council. — There should be no Council of State, but only one Legislative Assembly composed of 150 members, four- fifths of whom should be elected directly by the people. The Franchise should be as broad as possible without distinction of sex, but with a proportional and communal representation for Mo- hammedans as settled at Lucknow. The Assembly should have an elected President. (The Moslem League does not object to the Council of State if at least half the members thereof would be elected). The Legislative Assembly should have the same measvire of fiscal autonomy as Self-Goveming Do- minions, and should control the Budget, excepting the reserved subjects, the allotment for which shall be a first charge on the Revenues. All Bills must be introduced and passed in the Assembly. Provided that in the case of reserved subjects if the Legis- lative Assembly does not pass measures desired by Government, the Governor-General in Council may provide for the same by regulations. Such regulations will remain in force for one year, and shall not be renewed unless 40 per cent (two-fifths of the mem- bers) of the Legislative Assembly present and voting are in favour of them. The Governor-General to retain his existing power of making ordinances and the Governor- General in Council the power of passing regulations. The Gov- ernor-General and the Crown to have also power of assent, reser- vation or (hsallowance. The Congress — League scheme objects to periodical Commissions for revising the Constitution, and asks for a Statutory declaration that the transfer of responsibihty should be completed in a period not exceeding 15 years, when India should be placed on a footing of equaUty with the other self-governing parts of the Empire. in. The Provincial Govern- ments (i) General. — India, including Burma, is divided into 14 prov- inces, each of which has its own Provincial Government. By a system of decentralisation, revenues are allotted to aU these provinces by the Government of India. The Provincial Govern- ments administer, under the gen- eral supervision of the Central Government, without being re- sponsible to the Local Legislatures in any way. (2) Executive. — Bombay, Bengal, and Madras have each a Governor sent from England and three (one of whom is, in practice, an Indian) Executive Councillors ap- pointed by the Crown, with a Legislative Council. Bihar and Orissa governed by a Lieutenant-Governor with Legis- lative and Executive Councils; United Provinces, Punjab and Burma by a Lieutenant-Governor with only a Legislative Council; Central Provinces and Assam by a Chief Commissioner with only a Legislative Council, and the re- maining by Chief Commissioners without any Councils. (3) Legislative. — The Provincial Legislative Councils enjoy limited powers for legislation in the prov- inces. The Governor is the Presi- dent of the Council. APPENDIX 229 The elected members of the Legislative Council are elected by- constituencies formed of Municipal and Local Boards, and Landlords with a separate constituency for Mohammedans. They are in a minority except in Bengal, where they have at present only a small majority. The Legislative Coun- cils have no control over the Executive or the Budget. The Acts of the Provincial Legislature must be assented to first by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or the Commissioner as the case may be, and then by the Governor-General subject al- ways to disallowance by the Crown. Public Services Recruitment, examination, and other matters relating to Indian services are at present under the control of the Indian Govern- ment and the Secretary of State, with no statutory limit for re- cruitment in India. Local Self-Government Half the members of Municipali- ties and Local Boards are gener- ally elected, but the bodies are imder official control. III. The Provincial Govern- ments (i) General. — All Provinces hav- ing Legislative Councils at present (except Burma) should have a Governor with Executive and Legislative Councils. A complete separation will be made between Indian and Provincial Revenues. Provincial Governments are to have certain powers of taxation and borrowing. Responsible Government is to be introduced in the Provinces by a division of departments into reserved (for Government) and transferred (to popular control) subject to a revision after five years. (A Committee is appointed to settle which subjects should be transferred. The report is not yet out.) (2) The Executive would be a kind of Diarchy, consisting of the Governor and two members (one of whom is to be an Indian) who will be in charge of the reserved subjects, and respon- sible only to Government; and a Minister or Ministers, nomi- nated by the Governor from the elected members of the Council, who will be in charge of the transferred subjects and respon- sible not to the Legislature, but to the electors who may not elect him next time. There may also be additional members without Portfolios for the purpose of consultation. Ministers to have no voice in decisions concerning reserved subjects or about the supply for them in the Budget. There will be Under-Secretaries and Standing Committees from the members of the Legislative Councils to assist the Executive. (3) Legislative Councils. — These would be practically two Provin- cial Legislative Bodies: (i) Leg- islative CouncU. (2) Grand Committee. The Legislative Council will have a substantial elected majority, elected on a broad franchise with Governor as Presi- dent. (A Commission is ap- pointed to inquire into the question of franchise and the composition of the Council, but the report is not yet out.) 230 APPENDIX The Grand Committee will comprise only from 40 to 50 per cent of Legislative Council, and its members will be partly elected by a ballot and partly appointed by nomination. All Legislation and the Budget for transferred subjects only must be passed in tiie Legislative Councils. But when the Governor certifies that a biU dealing with reserved subjects is essential he may refer the BiU to the Grand Committee and have it finally passed there. The members of the Legislative Council can ask questions and pass resolutions, but the latter are not binding on the Executive, except resolutions on the Budget for the transferred subjects. All Provincial Legislation re- quires the assent of the Governor and the Governor-General, and is also subject to disallowance by His Majesty. Public Service Racial bars should not exist. In addition to recruitment in England a system of appoint- ment to aU pubhc services be established in India with an in- creasing percentage of recruit- ment. In the case of Indian Civil Service the percentage should be 33 of the superior posts, with annual increment of i^ per cent. Local Self-Government Complete popular control in Local Bodies to be established as far as possible. HI. The Provincial Govern- ments (i) General. — There should be a complete separation of the Provin- cial from the Imperial Revenues. All Provincial Governments should have certain powers of taxation and borrowing. (2) Executive. — FuU responsible Government should be introduced into the Provinces. The Execu- tive will thus consist of the Gov- ernor and Ministers responsible to the Legislature. There should be no distinction of transferred or reserved subjects. (3) Legislative. — There should be oniy one Legislative Council, having four-fifths of its members elected on a broad franchise with- out distinction of sex, but with a proportional and commimal representation for the Mohamme- dans. The Legislative Council should elect its own President, and must have control over the Budget. AU BUls must be intro- duced and passed in this Legis- lative CouncU. The Governor to retain his power of assent, and the Governor- General and the Crown the power of assent or disaUowance. Public Services Services should be recruited in India in a fixed and progressive proportion. The annual recruit- ment in India for the Indian Civil Service should be 50 per cent to start with, and that Indians be granted at least 25 per cent of the Commissions in Army and the proportion be gradually increased. There should be no racial distinctions. Local Self-Government Mimicipal and Local Bodies should be completely under popu- lar control. APPENDIX C REPORTS OF COMMITTEES ON FRANCHISES AND DIVISION OF FUNCTIONS (London Times May 13, 1919) The reports of the two Committees which sat in India from early in November to the end of February last to fill out the framework of the Montagu-Chelms- ford Report published last July were issued last night. The Franchise Committee, of which Lord South- borough was chairman, recommend a scheme of territorial constituencies, urban and rural, the latter based on the existing land revenue districts, together with communal representation for Mohammedans and Sikhs (as contemplated in the original scheme) and for Indian Christians, Europeans, and Anglo-Indians: and the representation of special interests, including commerce and industry. The other Committee, of which Mr. R. Feetham was chairman, make detailed recommendations as to the division of functions between the Government of India and the provincial Governments, and also between ''reserved" and ''transferred" subjects in the provinces. Proposals are made for the modi- fication in some important respects (notably in the powers conferred on the Governor) of the "diarchial" system in the provinces set forth in what is conveniently called the "Joint Report." As was indicated in The Times on April 5, Lord Southborough's Committee have not accepted the appeals addressed to them in the interest of woman sufifrage. They found it advocated "rather on general grounds than on considerations of practicabiUty." They are satisfied that the §Qcial conditions of India would make such 231 232 APPENDIX a step now premature. They are of opinion, however, that at the revision of the constitutions of the councils proposed in the Joint Report 10 years after their reconstitution the matter should be reconsidered in the light of the experience gained and of social con- ditions as they then exist. Franchise Qualifications The general proposals for the franchise are based upon the prin- ciple of residence and the possession of certain property qualifications. In addition the enfranchisement of all retired and pensioned officers of the Indian Army, whether of commissioned or non-commissioned rank, is recommended. This step was universally and strongly recommended in the Punjab, and it is to extend to all provinces. The property qualification is adapted to local conditions and is guided by the principle that the franchise should be as broad as possible, consistently with the avoidance of any such inordinate extension as might lead to a breakdown of the machinery of election through weight of niunbers. The large proportion of illiterate voters, in the absence of a literary test, may cause difficulty, but it has already been faced successfuUy in municipal elections in India by the use of coloured ballot-boxes and other like devices. No rigid uniformity of property qualification has been sought, but the committee have proposed the same qualification for all communities within the same area. A substantially higher propor- tion of the urban than of the rural population wiU be enfranchised. At present the total number of electors for the provincial councils is 33,007, and of these no fewer than 17,448 are Mohammedans, since that commxmity enjoys direct representation on an individual basis. The munber of voters will be raised under the scheme to 5,179,000, being 2.34 per cent of the total population in the eight provinces, which is nearly 220,000,000. The long established administrative unit of the "district" is made the territorial area for constituencies but the relatively few cities with large populations are to be separately represented. Occa- sionally towns are grouped into separate urban constituencies. Single-member constituencies are the general rule, but latitude is left to the local Governments. Plural voting is to be forbidden, but this does not apply to electors in constituencies formed for the representation of special interests. Special Communities In conformity with the recognition of the Joint Report that separate Mohammedan representation cannot be abandoned, the scheme provides for Mohammedan constituencies. The compact of the joint session of the National Congress and the Moslem League at Lucknow in December, 1916, is accepted as a guide in allocating the proportion of Mohammedan seats. In the Punjab this facility is to be exte^d^d ^0 the Sikhs, Beyond this the franjers of the APPENDIX ^33 Joint Report did not propose to go; but Lord Southborough's Committee recommend separate electorates, where the numbers justify that course, for Indian Christians, Europeans, and the domiciled "Anglo-Indians" — j.g., country-born Europeans and Eurasians. It is observed that candidates belonging to these communities would have no chance of being elected by general constituencies. The hope is expressed that it will be possible "at no very distant date to merge all communities into one general electorate." Other claims for separate electorates are not conceded. Regret is expressed that the organized non-Brahmans of the Madras Presi- dency refuse to appear before the Committee. It is pointed out that there the non-Brahmans (omitting the depressed or "untouchable" classes) outnumber the Brahmans by about 22 to one; and on the basis of enfranchisement taken in Madras the non-Brahmans would be in the proportion of four to one. It is held to be unreasonable to adopt the proposed expedient for a community which has an overwhelming electoral strength. The alternative of reserving a considerable number of seats for non-Brahmans in plural member constituencies did not commend itself to a section of the non-Brahmans, though evidence went to show that such a proposal might be accepted by the Brahmans "if it were the price of an enduring peace." It is suggested that his Majesty's Government might afford the parties to the controversy an opportunity, before the electoral machinery for the Presidency is completed, of agreeing upon some solution — e.g., the provision of plural member constituencies and of a certain proportion of guaranteed non-Brahman seats. The separate representation of zamindars and landholders granted under the Morley-Minto scheme is extended and provision made for university seats. The election by accredited bodies of representatives of commerce and industry is also continued and amplified. There is to be nomination for the representation of the "depressed classes," for in no case was it found possible to provide an electorate on any satisfactory system of franchise. Labour is to be represented by nomination where the industrial conditions seem likely to give rise to labour problems. The majority of the Committee are of opinion that dismissal from Government service should constitute a bar to candidature if it has taken place in circumstances which, in the opmion of the Governor in Council, involve moral turpitude; but Lord Southborough, Mr. S. N. Bannerjea, and Mr. Sastri dissent, considering it improper to limit the choice of the electorate by a disqualification based on the decision of an executive authority. The size of the Provincial Legislatures will vary from 53 in Assam to 125 in Bengal. The eight Councils will comprise 796 members, made up as follows: — Elected by general constituencies, 308. By communities, 185, By landholders, 35, 234 APPENDIX By universities, 8. By commercial, industrial, and planting interests, 45. The nominated representatives will number 47, and the officials, 128. The "All-india" Body For the Indian Legislative Assembly, the Committee propose 80 elected members, instead of the 68 snggested in the Joint Report. Fourteen representatives appointed by nomination and 26 officials (including seven ex-officio members) wfll bring up the total, exclusive of the Governor-General, to 120, as compared with 68 at present. A statement of the manifold difficulties in the way of direct election for this All-India body leads to the conclusion that there must be indirect election for all general and communal seats by the members of the Provincial Legislatures. "We trust that, in progress of time, a growing sense of poUtical organization will enable indirect election to be superseded by some direct method." A scheme for the creation of the "Council of State" on the lines of the Joint Report is set forth, on the basis of election thereto by non-official members of the Provincial Councils. There would be 24 elected and 32 ex-officio or nominated members, exclusive of the Governor-General. The electors should be left free to choose any person qualified to be a member of a Provincial Legislature. THE DIVISION OF FUNCTIONS The first duty of Mr. Feetham's Committee vi^as to consider what were the services to be appropriated to the provinces, all others remaining with the Government of India. The Committee proceeded on the basis that there is to be no such statutory demarcation of powers as to leave the validity of Acts passed to be challenged in the Courts. In other words, no alteration is proposed in the system under which the All-India Legislature as regards British India, and each of the Provincial Legislatures as regards its own province, have in theory concurrent jurisdiction over the whole legisla- tive field. In framing the lists the Committee have treated as All-India subjects certain large general heads, such, for instance, as commerce and laws regarding property, but have taken out of these and allotted to the provinces important sections — e.g., in the case of the first Excise, and in the case of the second laws regarding land tenure. Any matter included in the provincial list is to be deemed to be APPENDIX 235 excluded from any All-India subject of which otherwise it would form part. Subjects not expressly included in either list are re- garded as All-India subjects, but the Governor-General in Council may add to the provincial list "matters of merely local or private interest within the province." It is claimed that the scheme has been devised on such a basis as to leave the way open for the process of development. The list of subjects to be transferred to Indian Ministers is on the whole more extensive than the suggested list attached to the Joint Report. With certain reservations University education is to be transferred, as well as primary, secondary, and technical, on the ground that the educational system must be regarded as an organic whole. But European and Anglo-Indian education, which is organized on a separate basis is excluded from the transfer. The decision of the functions of the Provincial Government, popularly known as diarchy, has been criticized as likely to lead to friction, and sometimes to deadlock. To mitigate these difficulties, the Committee propose important changes in the relations of the Governor with both sections of the Government. It is to be the duty of the Governor in Council in the case of reserved departments, and of the Governor and Ministers in the case of transferred de- partments, to take care that the administration is so conducted as not to prejudice or occasion undue interference with the working of any department falling in the other category. The Governor has to decide whether a particular matter falls within the scope of a re- served or a transferred department, and to take care that any order given by the Governor-General in Council is complied with by the department concerned. Governor's Increased Powers In the case of disagreement between the Executive Council and Ministers as to action which appears to the Governor to affect both a reserved and a transferred department, the Governor is to give such decision as the interests of good government may seem to require, provided that, in so far as circumstances admit, before such decision is given the matter should be considered by both sections of the Government sitting together. If the Minister remains obdurate, it will be for the Governor to dismiss and find another Minister. If, owing to a vacancy, there is no Minister in charge of a trans- ferred department, the Governor will certify that such emergency exists and that inunediate action is necessary. On such certificate being given, the Governor in Council will have authority to take action, subject to the obligation of reporting to the Governor-General in Council. In other words there wiU be re-entry for a temporary and limited purpose during an interregnum. This is a considerable departure from the proposal of the Joint Report that Ministers shall hold office for the lifetime of the Legislative Council. The power of the Governor to dismiss a Minister, says the report, "seems 256 APPENDIX essential if deadlocks are to be avoided." The over-ruling of a minister will depend in the last resort on the Governor's personal judgment of the situation. Finance The Committee felt themselves precluded from considermg any modification of the proposals of the Joint Report for the separation of the finances of the Government of India and of Provincial Govern- ments. No opinion is expressed on memoranda received at a late stage from Sir James Meston making proposals for substantial de- parture from the plan of dealing with provincial finance set forth in the Joint Report. It may be recalled that Mr. Montagu and Lord Chelmsford pro- posed that, if the residue of the provincial revenues is not sufficient, it should be open to Ministers to suggest fresh taxation. The Committee take the view that when any new provincial tax or any proposed addition to an existing tax requires legislation to give effect to it, the decision whether that legislation should be undertaken must rest with the Governor and Ministers. Since the whole balance of the revenues of the province will be at the disposal of the Ministers for the administration of the transferred departments, the Committee consider that when an existing tax cannot be reduced or remitted without legislation, the decision whether legislation should be under- taken must also rest with the Governor and Ministers. To that extent taxation for provincial purposes should be regarded as a transferred subject. The assessment or collection of the tax would be reserved or transferred, according as the agency employed belonged to a re- served or to a transferred department. The view is also taken that, when alterations in taxation can be effected without any change in the law, the decision whether any alteration should in fact be made must be recognized as resting with the Governor in Council if the department is reserved, and with the Governor and Ministers if it is transferred. In respect to the powers of borrowing on the sole credit of pro- vincial revenues which are to be conferred, the Committee propose that, if after joint deliberation there is a difference of opinion be- tween the Executive Coimcil and the Ministers, the final decision whether a loan should be raised and as to the amoimt of the loan must rest with the Governor. The Public Services Detailed proposals are made in relation to the public services, to be classified as Indian (All-India), provincial and subordinate, No service is to be included in the first of these categories without the sanction of the Secretary of State, while the demarcation be- tween the provincial and subordinate services is to be left to the provincial Governments. APPENDIX 237 General approval Is given to a scheme prepared by the Govern- ment of India providing that legislation should be undertaken in Parliament to declare the tenure and provide for the classification of the public service. It should secure the pensions of the All- India services, and should empower the Secretary of State to make rules for their conduct and rights and liabilities, and to fix their pay and regulate their allowances. Similar legislation should be passed by the Government of India in respect to the provincial services, and to empower the provincial Governments to make rules for the subordinate services. The Committee does not express any opinion on the proposal of the Government of India to set up a statutory Public Service Commission on lines somewhat wider than those of the Civil Commission in Great Britain. Among the clauses suggested for insertion in the instructions for each provincial Governor is one enjoining him to "protect all mem- bers of the public services in the legitimate exercise of their functions and enjoyment of all recognized rights and privileges." The instructions are to charge him with the duty of safeguarding the legitimate interests of the Anglo-Indian or domiciled community, and " to take care that no change in educational policy, afi^ecting adversely Government assistance afforded to existing institutions maintained or controlled by religious bodies, is adopted without due consideration." The Governor is also to be instructed that he "shall not sanction the grant of monopolies or special privileges to private imdertakings which are inconsistent with the public interest, nor shall he permit any unfair discrimination in matters affecting com- mercial or industrial interests." H 348 85 ^ ^'^^ • < o O n '^f^', A"^^ -y ^ M O ^-^M r.<^ ' --' »> y<^ (ft .-^O^. ^ % ^ • • ;► "^^ Q^ Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 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