UNREST IN INDIA.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9154, 30 July 1908, Page 5

UNREST IN INDIA.

CABLE NEWS.

nitcri t'l'esH Asso li ition—By Eleotric Telegraph Copyright.

AUSTRALIA'S OFFER OF HELP. Received July 29. 8.30 a.m. LONDON, July 28. "The Times," in noting that the outbri-ak in Bombay is only transitory, 'omments on the gratifying olYer of help from Australia, but says that this will not be required. The Sixth Australian Horse volunteered for service at Bombay, if the unreal umtiuued.

A PLEA FOR TILAK

CANNOT BE ENTERTAINED

Received July 29, 10.5 p.m. LONDON, July 29. In the House of Commons Dr. Rutherford, Liberal M.P. for Brentford Division of Middlesex, asked whether Viscount Morley, Secretary for India, would recommend King Edward to extend clemency to Tilak, in view of his position in connection with the Indian national movement, and retrnt a portion of his sentence in order to allay to some extent the unrest in India. Mr T. K. Buchanan, Under-Secre-tary for India, declared that it would be impossible for Viscount Morley to take such action. Pie quoted Mr Justice Davar's remarks upon the case, and said that he thought Dr. Rutherford would agree that this wa3 not a case wherein an exception could be made. The Government deliberately instituted the proceedings in the court of law, and to immediately traverse the verdict would be to stultify themselves. The statement was received with Opposition cheers.

Tilak, a Nationalist leader, sentenced last week to six years' transportation,, and fined 1,000 rupees.

In the course of a. speech at the Indian Civil Service Dinner Club on June 11th Viscount Morley said it was nearly fifty years since the Grown took over the Government of India from the 011 East fndia Company. At the end of these fifty years we were at rather a critical moment. It was clear that rather heavy clouds had suddenly risen on our horizon, a"d that these rather heavy clouds were now sailing over our Indian skies That could not be denied, He did not say we should not have to take strong measures. Yes—but strong measures in the right direction and with the right qualifications. We had to face the rather painful fact that there was now a certain estrangement and alienation of races in India. That was the problem with which we had to deal. The first duty of the Government at present was to keep order. Unless we could somehow or other reconcile order with the satisfaction of native ideas and aspirations, ths fault would not be that of India, it would be ours. It would mark the breakdown of what had never yet broken down in any part of the world—the breakdown of British statesmanship. Nobody believed that we could now enter upon an era of pure representation at this stage. He had great admiration for the self-command and the freedom from panic that had hitherto marked the attitude of the British population in Calcutta and other places. He had said to himself that if there had been in London bombs in railway carriages and in the Prime Minister's house they would have had scare headlines and all the other phenomena of panic. Referring to the introduction of the Press and Explosives Act, Lord Morley said that the latter ought to have been passed twenty years ago. He had no apology to make for not passing the Act before. He thought a Government in the difficult circumstances was wise not to be in a great hurry. It had been said that the inc ndiary articles were froth. Yes, so they were, but they were froth stainer* - with bloodshed. He would not be in ... hurry to believe that there was not a Ereat body of reasonable people,, not only among the quiet, humble, law-abiding people, but also among the educated class, because on the day when we believed such a thing it would be a day when this powerful country would be confronted by as awful, as embarrassing, as hazardous a situation as had ever confronted the rulers of the most complex and gigantic State in humah history.