INDIA CONFERENCE OPENED.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20085, 14 November 1930, Page 13

INDIA CONFERENCE OPENED.

AN IMPRESSIVE SCENE.

SPEECH BY THE KING

(UNITKP tRESS ASSOCIATION— B? ELECTRIC •CKfcisRArH—COrVAIOHT.)

LONDON, November 12.

Npt even when Warren Hastings was tried in Westminster Hall did India so fill the stage at the Empire's capital as to-day, when tlio King-Emperor opened the Round-Table Conference in the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords.

The turbans and headdresses of the Indian delegates, of white, grey, blue, black, crimson, scarlet, and yellow, con« trasting with the dark clothes almost universally worn even by the Indians, stood out as bold splashes of colour against the bare-headed Britons.

: The 83 delegates included the rulers . of the great States, the bearers of : famous and ancient names, such as the Maharajah of Alwar, of tho most ancient Rajput blood, the Maharajah of Bikanir, who signed the peace treaty, and Sir Eanjitsinhji Vibhaji. The representatives of British India included the Aga Khan, in horn-rimmed spectacles, U Ba Pu (Burma), in a pink turban and green skirt; Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru; Mr Jinnah, who organised the boycott of the Simon Commission; and Mr V. 8. Srinivasa Sastri, who visited Australia and Now Zealand representing the Indian Government. There are two women, the Begum Shah Nawaz and Mrs Subbarayan, who was educated at Oxford. Sir John Simon and Lcrd Burnham and other members of the Statutory Commission were among tho spectators Mr J. H. Scullin, Mr G, W. Forbes. Mr R. B. Bennett, General J. M. B. Hcrtzog, and Sir Riohard Squires occupied the front row of scats. A Happy Augury. The King, in his speech, described their presence as a happy augury, io view of how much the future of tho British Commonwealth of Nations depended on the outcome of the conference. The King, who spoke very clearly, stressed the unique character of the Conference, . He said that never before had British and Indian statesmen and rulers met in one place, around one table, to discuss the future Government of India, and to seek agreement for the guidance of the British Parliament about the foundations of which it must stand. Mr Mac Donald Chairman. After the departure of the King the Maharajah of Patiala, a most striking figure, tall and strongly built, wearing a black coat buttoned to the chin, a light blue turban, and a strong and very black beard, with earrings containing pearls as big as peas, moved that Mr Ramsay Mac Donald (Prime Minister) bo chairman. The Aga Khan seconded the motion in seven words, and it was carried on a show of hands. Mr Mac Donald denounced tho civil disorder, and stressed the difficulties, but said there was much to give confidence in their ultimate success. He mentioned the Dominion Prime Ministers' presence as an earnest of the interest and goodwill of sister States. Indians' Speeches. The Indian delegates' speeches gave prominence to the idea expressed by the Maharajah of Kashmir as to India's "position of honour and equality in tho British Commonwealth of Nations."

Alone among the Indian speakers, Mr Jinnah kept his speech secret till it was delivered. He is a typical AngloIndian 'varsity man, and the only Indian in the room wearing a monocle, which, in a fit of restlessness, kept slipping from his eye. Mr Jinnah went the most direct of all for Dominion status. "India expects the translation of many declarations of self-government into action," he said.. Turning to the front bench containing the Dominion spectators, where Mr Sculliii and Mr Forbes frequently engaged in close conversation, Mr Jinnah plunged into prophecy. "I am glad you are here," he said, "to witness the birth of a new Dominion to march beside you." Those who knew Mr Sastri in Australia were not surprised that he gave the most eloquent speech of all, culminating in a plea that the round table hereafter would bo known as "the table of rounded wisdom and statesmanship."