The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1920. NEW ZEALAND AND INDIA.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3440, 20 March 1920, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

SATURDAY, MARCH 20 , 1920. NEW ZEALAND AND INDIA.

With which» is incorporated “The Tajhape Post and Waimarino NeWs.”- ~*

From north to south it is almost a straight run down from India -to New Zealand and Australia, about many Indians now being domiciled in this Dominion and in the Australian Commonwealth thcre can be no question, for in all the larger cities and towns their presence in considerable ‘numbers is too evident. India is now, and has been ‘for many years, a very troublesome country to manage; it is the seat of an old civilisation, and pre-sent-day Indians are an exceedingly intelligent race, many being highly educated. It will be apparent to those New Zealanders who are capable of estimating the future from experiences of the past, that India possesses all the possibilities for spreading unrest, it’ not disaster, right down the Pacific Ocean. They are a hot—tempered, rcsentful people, some of the higher castes being imperious and determined;.lower castes are equally determined, but lack education and culture which renders them a positive danger to the profitable conduct of social and industrial affairs. They are a naturally clever people, and India could easily become, under a stable, peacemaintaining government one of the foremost. manufacturing nations in the world. In India, as well as in all other countries, it is not always, by any means,‘ that trouble is first caused by the operative classes, it is rather too often the greed of British owners and employers. This practice has resulted in a strong feeling becoming widespread against the British from the Himalayas to the Pacific. Many cases of uneven justice are from time to time reported; 'a'_European killing an Indian rarely _ha"s' to face ‘the hangman, and it is ‘not. unknown that the Judge administtering law, so unequallyhas himself been murdered, on the, principle of’ murder for murder. Toj unnecessarily oppressive measures may‘, be traced the spread of sedition and} conspiracy; the whole country is seet.h- 1 ing with secret organisations; ‘industrial dispqtes §.‘re. secretly originated and discussed, ‘then put into oyperation, and too often are accompanied with considerable violence. In the. early

part of this week a great "Strike -of workmen took place in Calcutta, in which stone-throwing, and xrsabotage played a regrettable part. As in New Zea.land, so in India, high 003$ ‘Of living is the great. disturbing factor; men must live to work as Well as Work to live, and from the attitude -Of the strikers it seems apparent they had some good cause for complaint. Poople in the crowd, when surrounded by soldiers, laid bare their chests, offering to die. at. once by the soldier’s bayonet or bullet, rather than by slow starvation. It is scarcely understandable to people at this distance that under such circumstances the milifil-I's’ were ordered to fire, many being km‘ ed‘ and wounded. Being ruthlessly shot down caused a panic amongst the strikers, and for the present the men are quiet. British people pretend 311 abhorrent attitude in the presence Of coercion of bullet and bayonet When practiced by Germans, and is if 11013 time Britons commenced T 0 I'O3“S-9 that such coercion rccoils upon the coercers? We shall be corul-‘°n“/dv sooner or later, to realise that New Zealanders are bringing Indian resentment and menace almost to our very shores. At the request of the British Government, New Zealand despatched post haste a military force to sup’ press a strike by Indians in Fiji: and while this may appear a small isolated instance of coercion", it is SO-I‘iollSly questioned in the ‘House of Commons in London, and in high native CiFGIOS in India. It is now recognised that Britain is to some length holding.ludians in a. form of slavery known as indentured labour, and the growing feeling throughout India is that the Fiji case is representative of what ‘Britain would force upon India. Dur—ing the last twenty years India. has presented a. continuous series of conspiracies of a more or less revolting character, and these have been followedby the granting of extended political rights and privileges to -the natives. And although Indians! are now a power in the Legislature, there is no cessation of plots, conspiracies, sedition, and murder.» India presents, an immense arena: in which -hundreds ofmillions are struggling for fre_edor_n from too harsh a foreign yoke, and. this struggle has new extended to New Zealand. Is the latent power of Indiabeing dangerously, carelessly under estimated, both from an industrial and political viewpo_in.t‘!, More than half a century ago Indians were exporting some thirty millions worth of products, and were importing to the value of about twenty millions. While these figures continued to rapidly increase new industries were being established; the old Indian art industries, such as embroidery, carpet weaving and works in gold were gradually overshadowed by increased agriculture, the erection of cotton mills, jute mills, rice mills, sawmills, flour mills, oil mills, woollen mills, paper mills, iron foundries, pottery works, railway and shipbuildinig yards, and many industries of lesser: importance. Ten years ago India was exporting 230,000,000 pounds of tea, and more than half the tea required ‘by the world is now supplied from "India. The revenue of India was before the war, about £60,000,000, and the expenditure a few millions less. The people of this great country are awaking to a realisation of their power; industrially, politically and militarily. and it is not likely that they will tolerate for much longer Indian citizens being held in semi-slavery by British people in the South Seas. Well may it be questioned whether -the prescicnce of present day British statesmen is all it should be in connection with the Indian problem. Are New Zealandcrs inviting t'orcet’ul resentment in smiling military coercion to Fiji‘? \Ve are advised that in Europe Japanese are termed Yellow Prussians. This is significant. becaifse it suggesfs that :1 Japanese onslaught may set. the whole ‘of the Far East, including India. ablaze against Western peoples. In such event would India he likely to forget the little military force sent f 0 coerce Indians in Fiji into working 1111301‘ Conditions that their owners liked to institute? The trouble with Turkey is alienating t'l-om Britain the ‘immense ,Mohanlnmd‘an population which had «hitherto been loyal to Brilflin‘ almost to a man, and if an underSlandillé.“ is.‘ reached between them and the Hindus and Brahmaus, who have hitherto been in cut-throat relationship; 110 force Britain could put into India could hold back the wave that ‘mum Dmbably sweep over the land. Those are thoughts that: should be bow“ in mind When New Zcaland is Hsked to Send militray force to coerce indentllred Indian labom-_ If‘ig quogil0”"*l’1" “'h°thol‘ the present does not furnish a supreme opportunity for culiwafing “'a(liTl_£_2' relationship with Indi3- All this Dominion ’s surplus nwai. and wool. could easily be absorbed by India. and cotton. as well as other f(‘Xfiloß. COUld ‘be obtained from India at 3 mm’-h 1933 003 i than we can manufacture them: India c,ould also supply l'3‘3- 00390: and 311 other requirements from the tropics. Anyway, it is ti;-nlj New Zcalanders began to study their geographical position and cnnf.igl)if}' with India much more carefully than they have done in the past. '3'-