The Dominion. SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 1913. INDIA AND THE EMPIRE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1716, 5 April 1913, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 1913. INDIA AND THE EMPIRE.

Ihe spceeh delivered the other day by Mahomed Ohafi, President of the All-India Moslem League Conference, disquieting though it be, need not be taken top seriously. Much the sjanie kind of language has been uttered at conferences of the League in previous years, and the Empire generally has not been disturbed, "his year's speechesj too, would probably have remained practically unnoticed had not the attack upon Lord Hardinge focusscd public attention cmco more upon India. The All-India- Moslem League was estabhshed x "to promote concord and harmony among the different nationalities of India, to work, in the fur: therance of the general interests of the' country, so far as possible, in concert with other communities, and to safeguard and prosecute by all constitutional and loyal methods the special interests of the Moslems of India." Like the Indian National Congress, the Moslem League is a political organisation, whoso activities generally take the form of demanding concessions and favours of some kind from the Government. • The members of both bodies belong to the educated classes. But in India, among the Brahmans perhaps morb particularly, education means in too many instances, but the thinnest veneer of Western civilisation. Highly ' educated men there arc among Brahmans and Moslems, but the number,_ relative to India's vast population, is unfortunately insignificant. Neither India nor the Empire has any real cause to fear from tho latter _ class. _ The danger lies mostly with misguided, half-edu-cated youths who have become saturated with the doctrines of revolution, and even of assassination. But the m.ost_ authoritative and influential opinions in. Indian affairs concur in entirely freeing the Moslem comruun,ity from_ all charges of disloyalty and of violence. "The Bengals are still the storm-centre' of India," observed a recent writer in the Round Table. "Political dacoitics continuo in_ Eastern Bengal, and show that a reign of terror has been organised by some of the Nationalists to overawe those who are lukewarm or hostile." Against this may be placed the statement of the distinguished Anglo-Indian, Sib J. D. Rees: "One-fifth of the inhabitants of India, they (the Moslems) are, to a man, our friends." Great Britain is at present menaced in India by the bomb of the Anarchist; not by armed forces either from putside, or within the Indian border. In recent discussions upon India, the , position occupied by-the Native Princes has appeared at times to have been altogether overlooked. Yet to those Princes is largely due the peace and the security of the great dependency. More than thirty years ago Lord Lytton advocatcd ithe winning over of the native aristocracy to the side of Great Britain. In Lord,■ Lytton's Indian Administration may be read letters he dispatched on this subject to British Prime Ministers. while he was Viceroy. He wrote , to Lord Beaconsfield : "Here is a great feudal aristocracy which we cannot get rid of, which we are avowedly anxious to conciliate and command, but which we have as yet done next to nothing to rally round the British Crown as its feudal head." To Lore Salisbury he wrote: "Politically speaking, the Indian peasantry is an inert mass. If it ever moves at all, it will move in obedience, not to its British benefactors, but to its native chiefs and Princes, however tyrannical they may be. To secure completely, and efficiently utilise, tho ' Indian aristocracy is, I am convinced, the most important problem now before us." Lord Lytton's advice was accepted by the British Government, and, as can readily be shown, with .the best results. Reference to Indian historical and biographical works will show how steadily the' British, Crown has gained the admiration and support, in some cases, tho devotion, of the Indian Princes. In Fifty Tears' Administration (1909) may be, read: "Notable proofs of their loyalty to the British Crown were given in 1887, when tho great native States made spontaneous offer of their swords and treasure for the defence pf the north-west frontier of India; in 1890 in the formation of the Imperial Service Troops: and again at the two_ Jubilee celebrations of her late Majesty's reign, on the occasion of her lamented death, and at the Coronation Durbar of 1903." Lord Beaconsfield, tinged with the Orient as he was, (Slowed that ho keenly realised the duty of England towards India when ho remarked (vide Disraeli) : "Never mind what were 'your intentions. The question is: what were their (Indians') thoughts—what their inferences i" The native Princes obviously know the thoughts of their people, of all classes, and, above all, seem to possess their confidence. Thus, Lord Curzon is found saying, in 1902: "The native Princes have that indefinable quality, endearing them to the people, that arises from their being born of the soil." By the time Lord Curzon reached the Viceroyalty, Lord Lytton's counsel had borne fruit indeed. Twelve years ago LpRD Curzon was able to say: "The native chief has become, by pur policy, an integral factor in the Imperial organisation of India. He is concerned no less than tho Viceroy, or the Lieutenant-Governor in the administration of the country. 1 claim him as my colleague and iv net." 'Again: "Tho native States are no longer detached appendages of Empire, but its participators and They have ceased to bo tho architectural adornments of the Imperial edifice, and have become; the pillars that help to sustain the main roof." Lord Minto, who immediately preceded Lord Hardinge as Viceroy, it may be recalled, succeeded, almost unexpectedly, in calliug forth from the native Princes a remarkable display of detestation of disaffection and crime, and of loyalty to Great Britain. About, three years ago, when disloyalty and anarchism were rife in Bengal, he addressed a Vice-Regal K/iorita to all tho ruling Princes and chiefs of India, inviting their opinions, "with a. vie\v : to mutual co-operation against a common danger.'' The replies showed; that lie could fully rely upon the Princes aiding him in dealing with internal disorders, and after thai, until the Delhi outrage, the condition of affairs, was vastly improved. It is scarcely surprising that Indian Moslems, lwtumliy sympathising with their co-religionists,

tho Turks, consider that Great Britain should, have intervened to prevent disaster. But foolish statements, such as that about Russia swallowing the Asiatic Moslem States, detract from tho conference President's speech nearly all tho importance which, free from them, it might have commanded.