THE POSITION IN INDIA.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9132, 3 July 1908, Page 5

THE POSITION IN INDIA.

DISCUSSION IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS. VISCOUNT MORLEY SPEAKS OUT. Received July 2, 8.10 a.m. LONDON, July 1. Tha House of Lords discussed the position in India. Both sides, including Lord Curzon ex-Viceroy, who raised the debate, cordially supported the wise, prudent control of affairs by Viscount Morley, Secretary of State for India. Viscount Morley declared, regarding ultimate reforms, that, having put his hands to the plough, he would not withdraw because of bombs. Lord Cromer (ex-Minister Plenipotentiary of Egypt), in supporting the press law, remarked that freedom of the press had long been tried jn Egypt and Indii, and it must be reluctantly admitted that it had not been a success. "Steps." he said, "ought to be taken to deal with cur countrymen peregrinating in India as demagogues."

The action of the Indian Government in ordering the arrest of a number of native editors, who are charged with publishing seditious and inflammatory articles, is strongly approved of by the London "Times." We have, says that journal, no wish to see extreme reactionary methods introduced into India, but there should be no more trifling with sedition, whether written or uttered. The stability of British rule must not be endangered for the sake of mere consistency of devotion to abstract principles. When, as a result of the unrestricted liberty of the press, native newspapers ate found to bo deliberately endeavouring to undermine British authority, action must instantly be taKen, and there is only one way of dealing with these offences. The journalists of India may be given the amplest latitude to criticise the Government, but every definite incitemei.t to outrage or to organised ie\olt should be punished with unfailing promptitude. The licence now rampant in the Indian vernacular press would not lie tolerated in tiiis country for a single month. The real lesson of the recent revelations of political conspiracy in India lies not so much in indications of our possible weakness, as in the reminder of the many potent factors which constitJte our reserve of strength. The Indian Princes, for example, stand almost exartly where the British Government stands in confronting the forces of anarchy. The unrest of whicu we hear so much' is not confined to Eritish India, but can also be detected in varying degrees in the native States. Possibly for some time to come, until the authorities are able to trace tha conspiracy in all its ramifications, we may continue occasionally to receive disagreeable news from India; but the announcement that the projected reforms are to be steadily prosecuted, and perhaps extended, is the best possible proof, that Lord Mork»y 'and his advisers are facing tho situation with courage and calmness, and that they are not disposed to exaggerate its difficulties or its potentialities for evil.