The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-05-30
CURzON'S FIVE YEARS
AS VICEROY OF INDIA
BRING GREAT RESULTS
All England Acclaims Him as
"The Great Proconsul' for His
Work for Empire.
HIS VIEWS WE'RE BROAD
And His Plans Were Laid with
Far-Sighted Care and Along
Far-Reaching Lines.
correspondence Of the JournaI.

Correspondence of the Journal.
LONDON, May 1.-THE return of Baron
Curzon of Kedleston to England, after five
years absence as viceroy of India, is caus-
ing every act OF his administration-its mo-
tive. its method and it's effect, current and
ultimate-to be discussed, analysed and
weighed the acts of British administra-
tor have never been discussed, analysed
and weighed before, and the consensus of
public opinion-official and of the nations
press and citizenship-is that he has done
well to a superlative degree.
The press of all parties lauds him for the
ability and fearlessness with which he has
carried out his far-reaching plans, and
these are commended for the broad and
far-sighted view he brought TO bear in
formulating them. He is acclaimed with
one accord as 1.-The Great Proconsul." and
the Daily Mail declares that a hundred
years hence may be too soon to arrive at
an accurate appreciation of the magnitude
Of his work.
Fresh from the ever-changing East.
where the earth is trembling under foot
and no man knows what the morrow may
bring forth. Lord Curzon of Kedleston came
home to unchanging England, after five
plished as viceroy of India.
1t may be true enough-it was said by
the viceroy in his earliest speech in India,
and it was quoted by him from some one
wiser still-that the time for rejoicing is
not when a man putteth on his armor,
but when he taketh it off.
Now that Lord Curzon has come home to
take a rest. after five strenuous years, in
which, both by accident and design, the
fullest opportunity has been given him in
which to prove himself and the stuff of
which he is made, there may perhaps be
written down the main lines of the mans
work. its characteristics, its present worth,
and to a small extent its hope of life.
1t is probably difficult for any in the
position of Viceroy of India to realize that
there is more important and even more
individual work than his own. In the
practical, and not merely the nominal,
power of initiation and veto that is his
especial attribute, a power that affects
the wen-being of a fifth of the human
lie the greatest position that the march
|. of events and the conditions of life still
hold for the occupation of plain men.
And yet Lord Curzon has never failed
to realize the actual fact The very width
=
of his attitude towards Indian imperial
ism has proved, unpleasantly enough to
some, that he regards the welfare of India
as but a part of an even more gigantic
whole.
LIMITATIONS OF AUTOCRACY.
Probably no one realizes more than Lord
Curzon the limitations of his apparent au-
tocracy. and the precarious and personal
nature of all the policy that individual
governor general can carry through during
his short term of office.
The durbar was at it's height when a care
less remark was made to a shrewd judge of
Indian affairs that a second and successful
gunpowder plot upon Jan. 1 would make
trouble in the administration of the coun-
try Not in the least" he answered. eff
every soul here, viceroy included, were
blown sky high this minute the wheels of
India would not pause or slacken for an
instant So mechanically perfect is the
routine of the country that not only no
one person, but no reasonable number of
persons are now indispensable.
A certain amount of outward show can be
effected, but, to use a homely parallel, the
real difference between the working and
the output of India under a first-rate and
under d SecOnd-rate viceroy is about the
dfference-much discussed and much adj
vertised, but as affecting the mass of occu-
pations, ludicrOusly small-between a
good" and bad season in London-no
more. MonSoonS mean more than gov
ernor generals.
Even more exasperating to a man in
earnest is the time limit to the regime he
has at last succeeded in establishing What
ever his capacity, with Lord Curzon's de-
parture from the empire. when he finally
leaves India, will depart also his power to
move one finger of advice or warning. The
very Isolation that enabled him before to
carry out, in some measure, the schemes
that lay nearest TO his heart will operate
against him. He may be compelled to
watch the reversal of his policy by a dis
sentfent or a half-hearted successor, tand
the fulflpent therein of every mIsgivng
and mistrust Of the future that must ac-
company the employment of what, after all,
can be but temporary authority
Lord Curzon has horror of ragged edges
and outstanding disputes. and his success
sor will have TO thank him for such tidy
ing up of dispatch boxes as is unparalleled
in the history of the dependency.
In his peremptory veto of the Yunnan