FROM TURMOIL TO CALM

Hokitika Guardian, 31 May 1926, Page 1

FROM TURMOIL TO CALM

’ LORD READING’S GREAT RECORD. (By An Authority on India in London “Daily Mail.”) AY hen Lord Reading relinquished the Lord Chief Justiceship of England at the beginning of i 921 to succeed Lord Chelmsford as Viceroy of India there were many criticisms of the 'appointment, especially from that considerable section which held that his compatriot Mr Montagu, then Secretary of State ior India, had rushed Parliament into constitutional reform for which Indiawas unripe. It is known tlitit Lord Reading himself had serious misgivings but these wore dispelled by Lady Reading and also by Lord Curzon. Certainly the difficulties of the Indian situation were such as to daunt the stoniest heart. The Duke of Connaught, speaking (.it Delhi as an old attached friend of India, deplored tho fact that ho found tho trail of Amritsar (where General Dyer had taken such drastic action) everywhere throughout the land estranging those who should he friends; and he appealed to both Europeans

and Indians to forget and, where neces-

sary forgive. But there were many elements in Indian public life by no. means disjxised to accept this statesmanlike advice. The non-co-operation campaign was at its height, and for the first time in the history of modern political agitation in India the masses of the people were deeply moved. Mahatma Gandhi, who had made common cause with the Moslem malcontents over the Turkish Khalifat question, was credited with supernatural powers by the whole countryside, and it was believed that his Raj was about to l>c established. THE STORMY YEARS. The contrast between the conditions of five years ago and those under which Lord Irwin takes control to-day i.s obvious to the most casual observer. Tn the first year of Lord Reading’s tenure his patience and deliberation in making up his mind were mistaken for infirmity of purpose. But it was courage, though all tlie recklessness of the gamester, which, led him to press that the tour of the Prince of AA r a!es should not be further postponed and that lie should see India, restless as it was, in tho winter of 1921-1922. There wore, provincial governors who strongly urged that the Mahatma should lie arrested and tried before the arrival of the Prince, but the Viceroy hold different views and the marked failure of Air Gandhi to secure a general boycott by Indians of the royal visit had a great effect in lessening the belief in his powers. When soon after tho departure of tho Prince the Maliat-ma was aiTested and tried there were none of those ebullitions of lKipular resentment which had been anticipated, for by this time Mr Gliandi was a discredited force. At an earlier date there would

probably have been widespread disorder. His doctrine of non-co-opera-tion was no longer followed when the second general election of legislators took place, but in only one province did the Swarajists secure an actual majority. Their participation in the debates has helped to reveal the unreasonableness of their denymds for sweeping constitutional advance at this early stage, and the strained relations between Hindoos and Mahoinmedans has shown that Lord Reading acted in the host interests of India- when, he restrained further advance pending a trial of tlie existing machinery along the lines of British and Indian cooperation . AN ADAPTABLE MIND. The financial situation has improved owing partly to retrenchment, partly to wise finance, and partly to a series of good monsoon seasons. A great- political and economic grievance has been brought to an end by tlie abolition of the cotton Excise duty. Lord Reading has shown remarkable [lowers of adaptation late in life. For instance, a feature of his term of office- especially notable in tho onso of a man who first saw Calcutta as a runaway hand in a merchant ship—-

lias been tlie careful attention given to the ceremonial attaching to the public and private appearances of tho holder of tho greatest office under the Crown outside this territory. Similarly, although lie had seldom handled a gun. lie has become an

excellent shot- at a tiger. Lord Reading’s patience and strength of jiurpo.se when once his mind was made uji have yielded a rich reward. His administration can best- be .summed up by saying that the angry sea he breasted lias been calmed, that fortune has favoured him, and that he has known how to make the host use of fortune.