The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-07-10
THE EMPIRE OF INDIA
VI-Asplrations of India.
BY FREDERIC j. HAsKIN.

Nevertheless it is a fact that 10 per cent
Of the army appropriation would, IN five
years, complete system Of irrigation
already surveyed and approved, which
would bring into cultivation lO,0J,OV
acres Of what is now arid and semi-arid
lands. But instead Of taking that 10
per cent away from the army, the army
appropriation has been increased each
year and the irrigation schemes are not
carried out.
Such is the nature Of the extremely
practical reforms which the Indians say
they cannot hope to see accomplished un-
I'll they are given the right TO make their
own laws, levy their own taxes and vote
their own budget The purely sentimen-
tai craving for liberty has a surprising
~ small part in the agitation. Like all
great successful revolutions in history,
the Indian unrest is founded upon an
economic and commercial basis.
1t must not be taken for granted that
India is a unit upon these questions.
India is united upon no question. The
aspirations and hopes Of the Indians who
captain the hosts Of the Disconnected are
plainly the result Of English education,
European training and western thought.
conservative and oriental When the gov
eminent was obtaining the views Of the
leading men of the country on the sub
ject Of the reform scheme some of the
replies were distinctly TeaCtiOnary. One
blOodthiTstTy old Moslem said that the
government, instead Of giving people the
right to vote. ought to hang few peo-
pie every year on general principles Jus,'
to show how powerful it was.
Khan BahaduT Aurangzeb Kahn. re-
tired tax commissioner, IS very much op-
posed to the reforms and policy Of Civ
ing natives seats on the legislative and
executive councils. He said:
NO. sahib. il viii not do. Consult US
if you will. but do il secretly. 1t is not
right to put people IN opposition to gov
eminent The SakaT-thaf IS the British
r11pnt Fn India is well meaning DrIr
it has made two mistakes. First, 1t has
given education TO people untitled for
it, and, second, it has put the tenants
above the landlords Now il wishes to
put the people above itself No. sahib,
it is not right to mention the name Of
councils where the people may hear. II
viii spoil them. The government is well
meaning: let IL rule"
Whether the Indians, If given the pow
err Of self-EOvernment, would be capable
of bringing about the desired reforms.
if is impossible to say. The Indian Ma
tiOnal congress is a purely native body
which has held annual meetings for a
quarter of a century to discuss the needs
OF the empire Its resolutions have been
carefully presented TO the government.
and have been carefully filed away. EX-
cept In bringing the people Of different
parts of the nation. and Of different re-
ngiOns, into contact with each other, the
congress has accomplished little. Since
the beginning Of the present unrest one
session broke up in a fight between the
moderate and the extreme parties. The
English opponents of reform point to the
congress as proof that the Indians are
wholly unfit to manage their own af
fairs. But if that congress were invest
ed with power TO do something more than
pass resolutions, there might be a differ
ence. Whatever ones opinion of the fit
ness Of India for autonomy, the sober
and practical character Of the reform pro-
gram compels respect.
Copyright 1909, by Frederic J. Haskin.)
Tomorrow, THE Empire Of India VII.
Constitution and Government"