New-York tribune., 1910-10-04
UNREST IN INDIA
Conservative Views of It's Extent ana
Significance.

10 EFutIOT OF Inc
Sir: One of the great difficulties III 'ne
way of a correct understanding or the po
litical condition of India is that at this
distance 1t is practically impossible TOT tue
average American to discriminate betWee"
the conflicting statements that nhu men
way to the American press. AS an instance
Indian, of the name of Gokhsie' Ho"
visiting the United States, has been mista-
ken for the Hon. Mr.. Gokhale, member Oh
the Imperial Legislative Council OF lhuia'
and has been uttering to the press what
the Hon Mr.. GokhaIe would utterly repu-
diate. This Mr.. GokhaIe. whoever he may
be. declares India TO be seething with sedi'
ton and ready to revolt, statement VINO"
has no truth in II. Sedition exists IN lhdla
only in o certain class of educated lndlanS'
and does not reach the masses NO oetter
proof OF this could be given than an ex-
tract from the speech of the Hon. MI
tiokhale, who is an honOred statesman' a
leader of the Moderate party and recently
elected to tho Imperial Legislative Councii.
At the meeting of the Imperial Counch
held on August l. last to consider the ex-
tension of the seditious meetings act the
Hon. Mr.. Gokhale remarked as follows
My lord lord MintoJ. it will. am con- on
vinced, be n grave blunder 10 Place ~
seditious meetings act permanently on the
statute book or to propose further lesse
of life to ii after March next, ana l ear
nestly implore the government TO aoaho1ll 1f,ll
the idea if they have il. In 1901, When tIie
act was first passed, there was TINS 10 oe
said in it's favor. that the situation III tlie
country was daily growing more .,snrd anu
more anxious and no one knew Wherc
things stood or whittier they were orllt-
ing We were then moving on the up~aId
grade of our troubles, and the OUTLOOK was
t.. ,soVnf nfN,t- ada Il.
the situation is quite different The gen
eral air has been largely cleared; theie -
q much easier feeling throughout INC
country. and there is no DOUBT ihat III
country is now on the downward grade OF
it's anXieties. This change has prlnclpdlly
resulted from two causes-firSt, the reiorIn
scheme in it's final form, which, despite
obvious imperfections. constitutes an nm
portant step in advance for my country,
has eased in no small measure the tension
of the situation, and, secondly, the crHhl-
il1aI excesses of thoughtlesS young men
have shocked the bulk of the people INTO
a greater realization of their own duty 10
the cause of law and order. ! think, my
lord it is now daily becoming more and
more clear that the Wild elements Which
by their reckless CareerinS have oeeu a
source of so much anxiety have now Well
nigh exhausted themselves and the turn or
the country to d normal state OF things IS
therefore now only question or uHe
done by the government which will in any
way retard this return. Not the heavy
hand of coercion, but the gentle touch OF
conciliation and sympathy, forbearance
and obIivion-this is what the situation re-
quires. and | earnestly trust these heahng
influences will be forthcoming III ample
measure TO obliterate bitter memories and
start the country again on a career OF
prosperity and progress.
This sober statement from the Hon. Mr..
Gokhale suggests different condition from
what would be drawn from the reckless
statements of the Mr.. Gokhale said To be
visiting America, and who has been mis-
taken for the member of the Imperial
Legislative Council of India, and the we'll
known and honored political leader.
The student class. with It's easily infu-
enced young blood, falls an easy prey 10 the
Indian political agitator. as the Hon. Mr.
Ciol1hale has shown. Tho bomb outrages
have been the acts of weak minded stu
dents worked upon by unscrupulous agi-
tators, who take good care to keep in the
background. There are, unfortunately.
many Indian students i'm America who help
to spread the idea that India is on the
verge of revolt. and the average American
has no means Of testing the truth of such
statements The unfortunate result is an
entire mlsconception of the actual condi-
ton of affairs in India. The unrest In
India is like boil on a mans face-seri-
Gus and painful, but localized in the COM
paratively small educated class. The great
body of India is unaffected by II. And the
ma jor part of the educated class is sober
and loyal TO the British government. and
while ii may dream of Il more independent
national life I'm the far future. Is opposed
to all unconstitutional agitation and sedi-
tious acts. In no sense is India ''seething
with SeditiOn and on the eve of A revolt
and a general movement of insurgency"
JUSTIN Z. ABBOTT.
New York. Oct. ., 1910.