THE REPORT ON INDIA

Hokitika Guardian, 13 June 1930, Page 8

THE REPORT ON INDIA

(“Otago Daily Times.”)

The report of the Indian Statutory Commission has been long i»nd patiently awaited by the British Government and by the saner element in the public life of India, and the publication of the fist volume of the Commission’s findings will be welcomed as bringing nearer the day upon which definite steps may be taken to define the status of that great country. The Commission has occupied two years and a-half in preparing its report and the fact that the findings resulting from its labours are marked by unanimity indicates that at least sp far as tlie judgment of the investigators is concerned the problem examined lias not absolutely defied solution.

That the problem that has to be faced by the British Govenment is of great magnitude is only too clearly emphasised. Tt might oven have been described as unsolvable were the beneficial results of what Great Britain hn.s already done for India not so apparent. Moreover, great as the difficulties are, the wishes of the Indian peonies and of the British Uov ornment coincide as to the ultinint>object, if not to the means by which chat object may be attained. Great Britain has not deviated from the n'edces made in the Montague-Chelm-rford pnpers, and has, in fact, re-. ..W.ruled those pledges on several occasions since 1919. The Government has set it down that the nature issue of Indian constitutional progress is the attainment of dominion status, and the Simon report hn9 been prepared with that end in view. Political sentiment in India, the commissioners state, as represented ,y the educated Indians, demands equality with Europeans, and the British Government is able to give a ready assurance that its desire is so to assist

the Indian peoples that this demand may he met. But the granting of autonomy to India is not yet possible and the reasons are not far to seek Before India become competent to manage her own affairs, or even to exercise any appreciable further amount of control, over them, great ■hinges must be brought about, especially in the mentality of the Indian peoples.

The religious beliefs of the people in themselves constitute a problem of the most extreme delicacy. The number of meeds and castes is staggering, and any attempts to alter existing customs and beliefs must inevitably end m disaster unless reforms are introduced by a gradual process, and with the cooperation of the enlightened Indians. The distribution of population as he-, tween Hindus and Moslems is shown to be provocative of serious eomplica thins, which are recurrent in almost every part of India. So long ns these diverse creeds are allowed to create disorders such as are continu ally occurring, the inability of the nation to preserve any semblance of unified control, unaided by the British overseer, is obvious.

The disparity m aims and method:, ot the, political parties in the country

presents an example of disunity almosi a* striking. Fortunately as the repor states, the majority of Indians “knon next to nothing of politicians and an absorbed in pursuing the traditions! (■nurse of their daily lives” but tin speakers for these parties profess t( speak for masses, and theirs are the only voices that are heard. The Nationalist movement, with which Mi Gandhi has so closely associated himself, is recognised as a dangerous influence, as indeed it has proved to he m the past few months, and it becomes transparently clear that, wronglydirected, this organisation is capable of causing far more trouble for the Government, and for the Indians ‘hemselves, than its importance from a numerical (Standpoint would seem to suggest. Great Jlrilain, it might be inferred has been too lenient in the past in her dealings with this subversive body. The Commission’s investigations dir•ect attention to the comparatively small percentage oif European officials who are in executive positions in In,:n. The Indians may be said to he controlling their own destinies to a larger extent than their leaders would ''e prepared to admit, and while it mi ay he argued that the final authorGy rests always wit hEnglish officials •'n dtbat the presence of the army has a salutary effect, the statistics incorporated in the report may perhaps bt, accepted as an augury that the gradual process of “lndianisation” of civil departments will be a most potent factor in convincing the Indian peoples of the sincerity of the British Gov- , ernments intentions. | The; Commission’s survey is comprehensive and informative, but the most interesting part, its recommendations, has still to come. It would he futile to expect the reception accorded the first volume of the report by the Indian political factions to be otherwise than indignant and bitter, for it only too plainly indicates that thoughts of immediate autonomy are far from the minds of the commissioners. I Tt is but necessary, on the other hand, to give a most cursory glance at the demands of the Indians, hi the light of the report, to realise utter futility. What are tho , : mnlmotions of Swaraj, as ceaselessly demanded S' An answer was supplied by Lord Meston two years ago which .

hold good to-day: “An indigenous Government of India would be at entire liberty to accredit its own, diplunatic representatives abroad, to dispense with the British army in India

tn officer its own navy and army in its own way, - to remove ' all Britsih officials and to discriminate against the employment of British capital in Indian industries; it could insist on treating Englishmen in exactly the same way as Kenya or Natal treats Indians.” It is almost inconceivable that an intelligent Indian ever a rabid Nationalist, woulcf desire to undertake any responsibility for the fate of an India placed in "these circumstances.

The constitutional future of India largely rests, as'the Commission states in the most friendly but emphatic manner, with tbe Indians themselves and it is the duty of the Indian statesmen to hasten modification of the exioting form of ‘ government by ifacing the hard facts. In other words, the attitude of Great Britain towards Indian aspirations must be determined by the degree of co-operation which the Indian peoples are prepared to give the Government. That seems to be the unequivocal message which the Simon Commmision has conveyed in its competent general statement, and it is for the leaders of political thought in Tndia to pay attention to the wellmeant advice.