The Dominion THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 1917. INDIA AND THE DOMINIONS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3110, 14 June 1917, Page 4

The Dominion THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 1917. INDIA AND THE DOMINIONS

It has long been recognised in a general way that one of the most serious difficulties opposing the realisation of any scheme of closer Imperial unity or federation is that of allotting a role to India which she could fill aud which at the same time would satisfy the educated section of her people. Probably, however, the complex problems, imperial as well as mutional, which centre in India have received hitherto much less attention than they deserve- from the people of -the-self-governing Dominions of the Empire, and some aspects of these problems in which we are very closely concerned wo ha-vo all' but completely ignored. A temperate but arresting protest against this state of affairs, and particularly against the almost complete failure of the i people of the Dominions to take account of the Indian point of view, was made by Sir Henry Richards (Chief Justice of Agrn and Ouclh) when he addressed the New Zealand Club on Tuesday. Nothing that he had to say is likely to raise doubts in this minds of New Zealandcrs as to thc_ wisdom of our existing immigration policy, at all events in its essential features, but his address was a timely reminder that there arc aspects of the Indian problem which have an immediate claim upon the consideration of people in New Zealand and other self-governing Dominions. Some New Zealanders may have learned with astonishment that educated Indians in general regard our exclusive immigration laws with keen resentment, and consider any change in the constitution of the Empire which would give the Dominions one word to'say in Indian affairs unthinkable. But after all such a state of mind is not unnatural. While our immigration laws are rigidly exclusive we have done practically nothing in the past towards cultivating friendly relations with India. The practical question now raised is wether it is possible, without surrendering the immigration policy which we regard as vital, to extinguish the hostility we have awakened in India, and pave the way for a better understanding. It must be frankly recognised that a good understanding between India and the self-governing Dominions is essential to the healthy growth of the Empire.. A great country with a. ■ population of more than 1500,000,000 souls cannot be relegated indefinitely to a position of confirmed inferiority . in the Imperial family of nations. Though she is still considerably short of attaining the status of a self-governing Dominion, India is in many ways developing apace, and her development has been powerfully stimulated by the conditions arising out of the war. She lias played, aud is playing, a. great part in the war, and might have done even more to augmont the armies of the Empire if the .Govcrnmont had at tho outset

drawn as freely upon Indian re- j sources as the general and spontau- j eons loyally of the population war- j ranted. Not long ago her contribution of £100,000,000 to the financing 'of the war was acknowledged by the Imperial Prime Minister as a moving proof that India shares whole-heartedly with, other subjects of tho Crown in the ideals for which we arc lighting in this war. "That India should come forward of her own accord at this crisis and render such real and opportune assistance," Mr. Lv.oyd Georgk added, "is not only a. source of sincere gratification to His Majesty's Government, but must produce a better mutual understanding among all races and peoples under the British Crown.'' Demonstrating her loyalty in her contributions to tho common war effort, India, has at the same, time secured an improved standing in relation to the Mother Country and to.tho Empire which tends to satisfy the aspirations of her people, and makes distinctly for the strengthening of the Imperial fabric. At the recent Imperial Conference the direct representatives of India enjoyed for the first time oqual standing with the. representatives of Great Britain and the Dominions. The representatives of India, Sir James Mestojt, the MahArajah of Bikanik, and But S. P. Sinha, were- not members of the War Cabinet, on which India is represented by its Secretary of Stale, but at the Conference at the Colonial Office they voted on equal terms with the Dominion Ministers. It was remarked by the London Times that the unanimous approval of this arrangement by the Dominion representatives should help to take tho sting out of the resentment whioh has grown in India against somo of the Dominions. That this hope was not baseless is indicated in the efforts made to arrive at a settlement, of the vexed question of immigration policy. It was proposed by the Indian representatives that future admissions of Indians to tho Dominions for labour or settlement on regulated lines should be on not less favourable conditions than those governing other Asiatics. If this should bo impossible, it was suggested that there might be reciprocal treatment by India and each Dominion. The reciprocity proposal, which is the one of chief practical interest so far as Now Zealand is concerned, is complicated by obyious difficulties, and these difficulties would be heightened in tho not unlikely event of tho adoption of a system of Imperial as distinct from national citizenship in the case of the white inhabitants of the Empire. Educated Indians should bo well able to grasp the considerations governing the immigration policy of the Dominions, and to realise that they are in no sense derogatory to India. At tho same time the Dominions should bo very ready to demonstrate, by the adjustment of preferential duties and i« such other ways as may be possible, their sympathy with the efforts and achievements _uy which India is gradually attaining tho status of a full partner in the Imperial concern.