The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER, 27, 1913. THE PROBLEM OF INDIA.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 74, 27 November 1913, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER, 27, 1913. THE PROBLEM OF INDIA.

Mt H. Fielding Hall severely criticises British administration in India, even going so far as to declare that it is bringing India to the verge of revolution. In a constrilration to the "Nineteenth Century" lie alleges that the' Indian people hate the British criminal system, the Courts are filled with perjury, the police are unsatisfactory, and a jury system cannot bo introduced,

because juries would always acquit. The Civil Courts exist merely to collect debts for moneylenders. The Indian village used to

be ;t self-governing unit, with a council of ciders and a headman. Now the, council lias disappeared, and the headman is a Government official. Consequently the village organism is dead, and local self-government lias

heen killed. He strongly objects to the proposal to introduce Indians into the civil service, arguing that the In-

dian natives would not recognise their authority, and he urges that the Government of India must he reformed.

so thai ii may he once more in touch with reality. The Government of India, he says, must know India, and must, serve India; only by doing so can it serve England. "The whole I ideal and personnel must he completely changed, and their self-government i must he cultivated. This must begin at the bottom, not at the top; in the tillages, not in the Council chambers, and on a firm and enduring basis must he assisted to slowly grow. So can we win back India : there is no| other way." Mr Hall's pessimistic outlook is not altogether shared by many who know India well, hut it is! undoubted that unrest prevails and' the present trouble in .Natal does not; tend to help allay it.