KEIR HARDIE IN INDIA

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2208, 11 October 1907, Page 1

KEIR HARDIE IN INDIA

[To THE EniTOll.] Sir.—l am sorry that P. J. H. should have taken any remarks of mine in a personal manner, but his confession of ignorance of Indian affairs must certainly discount his assertions regarding the state of India.

To reply to his statement that the cause of the present trouble is the refusal of the British Government to grant tho Hindoos Home Rule: Anyone following the trend of affairs closely will find that the bulk of tho people of India do not want Homo Kulo; that the most enlightened and influential of the Native 1 Vinces pubannounce their satisfaction with the British Rule, and are prepared to array all their wealth and forces on the side of Britain, that although there are demands for Homo Rule, they emanato from a minority who desire to return to lawlessness and license, and who would subvert all authority and order; that although recently in Bengal thero was an outcry against the Subdivisional policy introduced by the central authority, it was only a political movo destined for the benefit of a faction ; that every action ta'ken by the British Government in tho cause of humanity, every effort for tho suppression of plague, overy distribution of food for the relief of famine, is misconstrued by evil-minded, lying and treacherous agitators into ' attempts to corrupt the people. jP- J- H. asks whether tho demand for Homo Rule is reasonable ; as reasonable as it is to allow a fractious child to play with an open fire in an old wooden house. Wore it possible, in the interests of humanity, to give India self-government, Britain would do' it.. But when we look at the population of India, nearly 400 millions, and realiso that tho actively seditious number about 1 per cent, and these few want anarchy pure and simple, call’ wo wisely hand over the remainder who trust to our protection to tho mercies of mob law, destroying all the magnificent fabric of British rule for which we have worked so hard, and the security of life and property of a third of tho human race? P. J. H. says:—“l would like his authority”—that the Hindoos hate the British worso than they hate eacli other; a perusal of Hindoo 'history and Hindoo life will reveal the atrocities committed by natives or

their own people; brothers stabbing brothers, poisoning, torturing, mutilating and burning their fathers, mothers, sisters and their own children ; every tale of Native rule is one long record of family assassinations and each Native Prince’s term of

power one long, hideous nightmare, a series of murders alone keeping him on his blood-stained throne.

To permit a return to such a state would bo criminal; yet Keir Hardie in his disloyal speeches advises In-

dia to shake off Britain’s control; tells 15,000 natives that one white

man • (for that is the proportion of Natives to British) has no right in India. Yet never in the history of

the world has a ruling people done as much for the conquered race ns wo have done in India. Thousands

of Englishmen have sacrificed their lives and their health in their efforts for the amelioration of the condition of the people; Britain’s coffers are ever open to stay the ravages of plague and famine; the Courts of Justice are at the disposal of the poorest peasant, and no effort is spared to better the lives of the natives entrusted to the care of the nation.

But there is always a danger of rousing criminal passions in tho Eastern fanatical race; the tinder is

there waiting for tho spark, and when men like ICoir Hardie fan the flames of revolt, the mind cannot grasp the extent of the conflagration that may follow. Tho leaders of the Mutiny were blown from the cannon’s mouth: shall Keir Hardie be welcomed with open arms by tho descendants of men and women who wore massacred in 1857?—I am, etc.,

C. G. P. Gisborne October 10. t'J'O THE EIjITOR.] Sir.—l liavo been patiently waiting for a Gisborne Socialist to como to the support of your correspondent P. J. H. I conclude tliero are none in your locality, or certainly your lotter bag would liavo been besieged with applications for tlio privilege to say a word or two for humanity and Keir Hardie. With all respect to your correspondents on this subject, I think they have all missed the true position. Keir Hardie is accused by the press of disloyalty and sedition ' Why? For the same reason that ah good men with disinterested motives for the good of humanity in tlio mass have been accused and persecuted right down through the ages. We in New Zealand are indulging in a lot of silly bombastic talk about boycotting Keir Hardie before wo really know how far he may be guilty of the accusations made aginst him. That Keir Hardie has made speeches in India in sympathy with the movement going on among the enlightened class of Hindoos for the uplifting of their fellows anyone who knows Keir Hardie’s past does not doubt. That a garbled account of his speeches has been cabled to the Home papers and enlarged upon, and re-traiismit-ted to the colonies is still nearer the truth. The color question is not a color question at all, (which is a paradox) —it is an. economic question. The standard of living of the Hindoo is so low that we in Australasia dare not admit them although, they are fellow citizoiis of the Empire, because we know that tlieir lower standard of living means lower wages, which would all too quickly to taken vantage of by the capitalists, to'the prejudice of the white worker. Keir Hardie is pre-eminently a .Socialist, and the Socialist movement is a level-

ing up movement in all lands irrespective of color or nationality. Keir Hardie is working for that end in India. The capitalist may. howl as much as he wishes, hut my concern is that the working men of New Zealand shall not he gulled into a misconception of Keir Hardie’s motives. An old saying lias it that it is a bad bird that' will foul its own nest. Exactlv; and it is a very dirty bird that will be content to lie in tile mire of it's foul nest and cull, out “Sweet, sweet.” J. Godfrey wishys us to try a Maori pah to accustom ourselves to men of color. M ith all respect'to'Mr.. Godfrey, and our Maori bretliern, as Olio who has lived and moved among the Hindoo races, I have no need of tlio experiment, and the suggestion is an insult to the Hindoo racewith all respect to our Maoris. The Hindoo race numbers among its luUUo.us thousands of highly cultured men. It has been' my* -privilege at times to meet and talk with theso men and to know something of tlieir aspirations, and I have the temerity to assert that our policy of continuing to withhold from them what we grant

to the Maori, i.e., some voice in the administration of the affairs Of tlieir country, is a tlisgraoe and a slur Gisborne, October 10th,