INDIA’S RULE.
PLEA TO JOIN HANDS* WORK FOR MUTUAL BENEFIT, INAUGURATING NEW POLICY. Jte Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received Feb. 10, 5.5 p.m. Delhi, Feb. 9. The Duke of Connaught performed the ceremony of inaugurating the Council of State and the Legislative Assembly. It was another most imposing ceremony, and there was a brilliant gathering, including ruling princes and chiefs. The Duke’s reception was marked by the greatest warmth. The Viceroy (Lord Chelmsford), in a speech, outlined the inception and progress of the reforms up to the present. He said there were those who believed that the real object of the British Government had always been to retain all genuine power in their own hands, only grudgingly and tardily yielding concessions when unable to refuse them. He was confident that history would reveal that throughout British rule our unceasing purpose had been to extend to India the benefits and privileges of Britain’s own institutions. In face of formidable difficulties, we had been content to advance step by step, and build the edifice of constitutional government on the foundations laid in the preceding generation, and the present developments represented an honest effort to give the fullest and most complete effect to the Montagu-Chelmsford reform scheme. The Duke of Connaught read the King’s message, which contained the phrase: “To-day you have the beginning of Swaraj within my Empire.” This reference to the Royal House evoked continued applause. The Duke, speaking with deep earnestness and emotion, made a personal appeal for a cessation of bitterness and a mutual obliteration of past mistakes. Then he declared the House open. The Viceroy, in his closing speech, repeated the Luke’s appeal, and asked al] to join hands and work together for the common good. The crowds in the vicinity of the Chambers were almost entirely official. Shops in the main streets were closed as a mark of the non-co-operators’ dia-i approval of the proceedings. —Reuter Service. THE KING’S MESSAGE. EXTENSION OF INDIA’S LIBERTY. OPPORTUNITY FOR PROGRESS. Received Feb. 10, 7.20 p.m. Delhi, Feb. 9. The King’s Message, read at the inauguration of the Council of State, congratulated the country on the success of its years of labor. ‘Tor years,” he said, “maybe for generations, patriotic: and loyal Indians have dreamed of | swaraj for their motherland. To-day you j have the beginnings of swaraj within: my Empire, with the widest scope and ample opportunity for progress to the liberty which my other Dominions enjoy •” \ . After referring to the responsibilities involved, the King added: “Upon you lies the duty to convince the world of the wisdom of this great constitutional change, and to work for the interests and upliftment of the millions of your fellow-countrymen who are not yet qualified for a share in political life. I shall watch your work with unfailing sympathy and resolute faith in your determination to do your duty to India and the Empire.” The Duke of Connaught, in the course of a speech elaborating the King’s message and the Viceroy’s utterances, appealed to be allowed to add a few words of a personal nature. He said that since he landed he felt around him the bitterness of the estrangement between those who had been and those who should be friends. The shadow of the Amritsar troubles of last year had lengthened over the fair face of India. He knew the deep concern felt by the King and Emperor at the terrible chapter of events in the Punjaub, and he said no one could deplore these events more than himself. He had reached a time of life when he most desired to heal wounds and reunite those who had been disunited, and in this, which, he feared, would be his last vitit to India, which he loved so well, he desired to appeal to the British and Indians to bury the mistakes and misunderstandings of the past, forgive where they had to forgive, join hands, and work together to realise the hopes that arise from to-day.—Reuter Service. EXTREMISTS TAKE ACTION. J3USINE&S STOPPED AS PROTEST. Received Feb. 10. 5.5 p.m. Delhi, Feb. 9. A complete boycott exists in the city, l all shops being closed. There are no vehicles and few people in the streets. Ghandi’s proclamation was published in a local extremist paper, ordering abstention from the Duke’s reception. Several thousand agitators surround the Palace. . . , The Nawab of Tonk, in Rajputana State, demanding reform, the Diwar, or Prime Minister, fled from Jaipur. Col. Benn, British Resident, was prevented from eoming to Delhi, which act is attributed to the extremists. The situation is uncertain. —Aus. and N.Z. Cable Assn. •
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Taranaki Daily News, 11 February 1921, Page 5
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763INDIA’S RULE. Taranaki Daily News, 11 February 1921, Page 5
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