THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1909. THE OUTLOOK IN INDIA.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3122, 24 February 1909, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1909. THE OUTLOOK IN INDIA.

The deadly fungus-growth of anarchism continues to spread ominously in the soil of India, in spite of all that tha Government is doing to stop it, and the authorities in Calcutta, who have hither':o minimised the significance of the unrest, now recognise, according to recent cable messages, that the evil is of larger dimensions than was imagined, and that incessant vigilance is necessary. Yet at the

recent congress of the All-India ' ] Moslem League, the President, Syed '• Ali Imam, in the course of his address, while professing sincere devo- 1 tion to India, went on to observe > that "until they had overcome sec- > tarian aggressiveness and tne preju- ] dices based on diversity of race religion and language, the British ' occupation would be the principal ' element in the progress of the coun- ! try." It is quite clear that the peoples of India have not yet overcome their sectarian aggressiveness, ' because the words were hardly out of : Syed Ali's mouth before fierce religious riots broke out in the neighbourhood of Barrackpore. not tar from Calcutta, and Hindoos and Mahomedans fought with such good will that the troops had to be called out, and had to fire several volleys into the masses of the rioters before the trouble could be stopped. It all rose through the police prohibiting some Mahomedans from sacrificing a cow at one of their feasts, the cow being held sacred by the Hindus. The Mahomedar,s resented the embargo, but the Hindus, who were in vastly superior numbers, overcame (hem, raided their mosque, and even place! that unclean animal, the pig, in the holiest corner of the sacred building. Thousands of Moselms swore to be avenged, and for many days the battle raged all along the left bank of the HooghJy, till the. military had to be summoned to suppress the disturbance. If British military officers had not been in readiness with their trcops perfectly in hand the event predicted by Sir Salar Jung Was sure to happen, if ever tie British withdraw from India, would doubtless have taken place. The Mahomedan tiger, according to Sir Salar Jung, will spring on the Hindu deer, and tear it to pieces, if Great Britain leaves India. Happily there is no likelihood of such a calamity occurring just yet. 'There can belittle doubt that the religious riots were carefully fanned by agitators desirous ot embarrassing the Government to the utmost possible extent and using every available agent, the fanatical bomb-thrower with his "bande mataram," and also the enraged Mahomedan mill-hand, who sees the temple of his faith defiled by the swine of Hindus. Against ail these forces of disorder the British Government has to maintain the public peace in India. It i 3 possible to trace some of the ideas by which it seeks to carry out that task. In the first place, the recent political reforms announced by Lord Morley were expected to work wonders, and as a matter of fact the idea of placing the provincial 'ejislative councils ! on an electoral basis and allowing native representatives to sit at the council tables of the Governors and Lieutenant-Governors wjs warmly welcomed by the natives themselves. But there were several, unpleasant hitches, and the Mahomedans made it clear that they were not satisfied with the method of representation, alleging that they were the victims of gerrymandeering. Lord Morley had to receive a good many coldly critical resolutions from the Mahome Jan associations, who persisted in looking his political gift-horse in the mouth. However, that substantial benefits will flow frorr the reforms eventually seems to be generally agreed. The trouble is that you cannot pacify a bo-nb-thower by offerhg him a vote for an electoral college, which is to select some unknown compatriot to repres.nt all I the natives of the district at the prcI vincial legislative council. Special regulations have recently been issued regarding the pay of the Indian Army, and while the white section benefits substantially, so also do the native officers and the native troops, who have had their pay raised by certain rupees per month, together with fresh allowances. The Government of India treats its native troops generously, so that if political reforms will not keep th« people quiet sterner methods may be employed •with confidence in the last resort. The history of India teems with proofs that the sterner methods offer the more convincing appeal.