FEDERATION FOR INDIA.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20099, 1 December 1930, Page 11

FEDERATION FOR INDIA.

POSSIBILITIES BEING CONSIDERED. CONFERENCE COMMITTEE AT WORK. (BEITI3D OFFICIAL WIBEI.ESS.) RUGBY, November 28. At the first full meeting o£ the enlarged Federal Relations Committee of the Indian Conference the Prime Minister presided. He explained that it was proposed to have a general discussion on the heads of subjects prepared by Lord Sankey and then to remit them to special subcommittees for investigation, implications, and for suggesting means as to the methods of overcoming tlio difficulties. The reports of the sub-commit-tecs would be considered by the com mittco of the whole conference. Mr MacPonald said that ho hoped that the conference would succeed in embodying its conclusions in a series of resolutions. It was agreed that Lord Sankoy'» heads of subjects bo adopted as a provisional agenda. Lord Sankey's document was prefaced by what was doscribed as a preamble. After some discussion on a proposal to amend the wording of this to include the word Dominion it was agreed to regard it simply as an introduction to the heads of the subjects and not a preamblo defining the character of contemplated constitution. Types of Federal Structure. Lord Sankey gave an exposition of the scope of head No. 1, namely, the component elements of tho Federation. After discussion, it was agreed that a sub-coniniitteo be appointed by the chairman after consultation with the business committee, to report on the types of federal structure and their component elements. It later was announced that the sub-committeo which will be known as the Federal Structure Sub-committee, comprises & chairman (Lord Sankey), and from the British delegation Mr H. B. Lees-Smith, Lord Lothian, and a Conservative delegate to be nominated; from the Ind:an States delegation the Nawab of Bhopal, tho Maharajah of Bikaner, Sir Akbar Hydari, Mirza Sir Mahommed Ismail, and Colonel K. N. Hafisar; from tho British India delegation, Mr Swinivasa Sastri, Sir Tcj Bahadur Sapru, the Hon. Diwan Bahadur Arcot, Ramaswami Mudaliyar, Mr Jayakar, Sardar Sahib, Surdar Hjjal Singh, Mr M. A. Jinnah, Sir Muhammad Shafi, Mr Tracey Cavin Jones, Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, and the Sultan Ahmed. The full committee will meet in the afternoon to consider the remainder of the twelve heads.

Addressing- the committee, Lord Sankey said that the first heading might seem to invite discussion, as for example, whether Burma sho Id be a component unit or whether Sind should bo separated from Bombay, or what should be the position of the North-West Frontier Province. That was not his intention. Ho had hoped to exclude all such matters of detail until a Inter period, possibly after these questions had been examined by the sub-committee. What was to be discussed now was the theory of what should be the component elements of federation. Several Possibilities. Theoretically there were several possibilities: (1) A union cf all the States on the one hand and British-India on the other combining to make a federation. (2) A Federation of British India on the one side and on the other the States entering singly. (3) A Federation of which the component elements were each Province and each State. * Three things must be borne in mind: (1) British India was at present a unitary State, divided for the purposes of convenience into Provinces, and not a number of provinces federated to form a State. (2) There was hardly any organic connexion between the States or any two or more of them. (3) There was no organic connexion between the States or any one of them and British India. The ties between the Government of India and the States were treaties and. powers resulting from the doctrine of paramountcy, but the subjects of the States were not British subjects. Other trends of subjects for discussion under the first head were entrenched somewhat on the other heads indicated. The general discussion was dropped.