THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 1907. THE DISCONTENT IN INDIA.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8518, 24 August 1907, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 1907. THE DISCONTENT IN INDIA.

The discontent in India is discussed from the Hindu point of view by S. M. Ivlitra in the Nineteenth Century. He emphasises the great gulf still fixed between East and West. In politics, in religion, in education, England has failed to remove the aloofness of the Indian mind. The Oriental has no substitute for the Pax Britannica; he recogn ; ses the virtues of his silent, haughty masters; but ever at the bottom of his heart lies the patient, deep disdain ; and this is raw material, infinite and eternal, to the agitator. Mr Mitra proceeds to tell us, what is so obvious and so hard for the Englishman to avoid, that our difficulties are largely of our own making. We allow our authority to be attacked with impunity. The vernacular press carps without restraint, disseminating lie?, half-truths, and vilifying statements; while the few prosecutions have only temporary and individual effect. Ought we to allow "the microscopic minority of the educated classes to indulge in the luxury of manufacturing sedition," to the jeopardy of the "dumb millions?'' This license has made incendiarism a synonym for patriotism. No native ruler would tolerate it, and tht Hindu mind is incapable of understanding why Britain tolerates it. Another point this critic takes is that the Indian Civil Service lias much deteriorated, and now includes "undesirables, ' who should be eliminated. He regrets the ignorance of the vernacular

languages too often displayed by these officers, which continually leads to inefficient administration; and he seems to think that the Civil servant of to-day tries less than ever to understand the Oriental mind. Education, too, is responsible for much; undermining the beliefs of the students, destroying their reverence for authority, and giving currency to a cheap socialism; finally, trifles count for much —and Mr Mitra unexpectedly reminds us that Dr. Arnold had to part with an excellent French master at Kugby simply because he had spoken of the Holy Ghost as a pigeon instead of a dove.