Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-23
A SERIOUS SITUATION IN INDIA.

writer, referring TO Ine Boycott IN Ben
GAL" cited from the
Significant Hindustan Review the ex'
Expression. preston Of an Indian
writer, and the expires.
sion may be repeated now as significant in
view Of the present serious situation in
India:
1.-THE east cannot sit alone wrapped in her
memories. II Indian civilization Is to en-
! dure. 1t must be strengthened by the re-
suits of western science; 1t must incorpo-
rate the best that the west has to offer.
! Assimilation or destruction, that Is the
alternative.
"One small nation of the east has already
faced the difficulty; has chosen wisely and
now fronts the world as a great power.
India. with her more ancient and less fex-
ible civilization, has a longer task before
her.
The problem of assimilation! That is the
question. Problem perhaps insoluble? But
1t was Mr.. John Morley. the eminent secre-
tary for India, who said one day: IA man
who flies from insoluble problems is not fit
for political life" Was it because of that
particular dictum that Mr.. Morley was
chosen for the post which above all others
is the most difficult?
In the first place the situation. though
extremely serious Is not hopeless. The
viceroy Of India possesses an efficient arm
in an old act which dates from 1915 (when
India was under the regime of the East
India Company. which permits him to ar
rest and imprison without trial any person
whom he may esteem dangerous to the Sc
curity of the country.
Actually thirty-two persons have fallen
under the ban Of this law. and 1t was by
virtue of the same that Lajpat Raj, the
ag1tator. was recently arrested and deport-
ed. India. 1t will be recalled. Is under an
autocratic regime and letters de cachet''
and NM without ri at
the good pleasure of the viceroy are details
of government which are Indispensable
Assimilation therefore under such condi-
tions seems a vain and futile word.
-
The position. besides, Is abnormal. The
Indian possesses an old and respectable
civilization. which, with his
Abnormal religions and traditions con-
Position. stitutes him something en-
tirely, and. 1t may be said
eternally. apart from the occidental ruler.
Were the East Indian a savage he might
be taught, but he Is not a savage and may
not be taught, being himself teacher.
Assimilation, 1t Is repeated, Is not rem
edy, for no race as virile and civilized as
the East Indian may be assimilated. or abb
sorbed, assimilation and absorption being
In fact extinction. The Times of London
says with frank brutality: 1--WE conquered
India by the sword, and in the end we
shall only hold her by the sword And
this indeed appears the only solution for
nations so unfortunate as to be conquered.
Education Is not a remedy. Education
only furnishes more powerful arguments to
combat conditions in a regime in which
there is inequality. And there will be in
equality until the end-until the millennium.
''Liberte, egalite. fraternite" was written
upon all the monuments and institutions of
France. and yet the question of liberty.
orr md FRI nry1tf 10 - vol i'm
pugned by the present instruction in the
south Of France. of which NJ. Ribot said
In the chamber on the 18th instant:
1--WE have arrived at a situation graver
with national sentiment on the eve of dis
solving itself in certain regions and the
germs OF mutiny developing here and there
in the army. The French law is not re-
spected in certain sections Of the country.
Disturbance there is terminating and may
tomorrow become terrible resurrection"
The situation in India Is briefly this:
First, discomfort over the division Of the
province Of Bengal and
Causes OF amalgamation with Assam,
Discomfort. and as result the boycott
of British goods. The in
cident at Poonah. in the province of Bonn
bay. Is not forgotten. The inhabitants Of
Poonah stripped their persons of English
fabrics and burned them in bonfires The
British government yielded to native feel
ing and displaced the governor of Bengal
Sir l. B. Fuller.
The second cause of discomfort IS attrib-
uted to the educated Indians who either
frcm the universities in India or from those
in England contrast the liberty of English
men to the thraldom of the people of India
a governmental system in which the Indian
has little or no-part and which subjects
him. as an Englishman has said, TO the
cold, Indifferent and arrogant control Of a
foreign functionary."
Lord Curzon. the preceding viceroy.
50 eaking in an assemblage of intelligent
Hindus. found nothing better to say to his
auditors than that the people of Bengal
were bad lot Of liars" statement which,
even II true. was manifestly improper and
impoltic. Little wonder. indeed, that after
such manifestation OF contempt on the
part Of the viceroy there should be discon-
| tent. lie Temps. criticising the situation in
India, remarks:
Suppose an educated Hindu (of whom
there are many. who reads the Times
learns that Russia has given a parliament
to her people. Russia Is certainly not more
civilized than India. And then he learns
adopted parliament, and the Indian re-
marks that the Times affects Joy over the
news Now says the Hindu. why Is 1t
that that which is good for the Persians
should not be good for the Indians? Are we
less civilized than the Russians and the
Persians?' The Hindu Is wrong perhaps to
reason thus. but it is not possible that he
should reason otherwise"
Recent dispatches report hostile manifes-
tations in different sections of India and
rioting at Rawalpindi.
Ant1-Chr1stian "It is significant" says
Demonstration. the correspondent of
the London Times,
that the rioters vented their wrath on the
property and the agent Of the American
mission. The Rev. l. w. Martin, principal
of the London Mission College. gave the
Civil and Military Gazette a detailed ac-
count Of these anti-Christian excuses. Mr..
Lala Latpat Raj in connection with the dis
turbance at Rawalpindi, was arrested.
1t Is charged that Mr. Lajpat Raj was
1.-The head of an incredibly complex and
deep-rooted scheme of revolution" On the
other hand. the Hon. G. K. Gokhale, men,
Der Of the viceroy's legislative council,
writes to the Times of India that he knows
Lala -Lajpat Raj Intimately, and that his
aims and methods are strictly constitu-
tional, although his language is som atimes a
trifie strong. The government he claims
has misjudged the character of unrest in
the Punjab. Lala Lajpat should have an
opportunity to meet the charges against
him, or else be restored to liberty. 1.-The
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