New Britain herald., 1921-10-08
SITUATION IN INDIA SIMILAR TO
 THAT IN IRELAND, DECLARES HUME
Former Local Y. M. c. A. Of ficial Gives First Hand In- formation On Political Sit uation in Far East.

Wilson M. Hume, former educa- tional secretary at the local Y. M. c. "A, nod associate secretary of the Y. M c. A. Joint Finance Appeal at Lahore, India, has written an inter- esting letter to c. H. Barnes, general sGretary of the New Britain Y. M. C. A. MT. Hume will be remembered by the older members of the local ':Y'', having left this city about eight years ago to pursue his work in India He has spent some six years there and has lately returned there after short period for another term of six years. He is a Yale graduate and has followed the footsteps of his father who is missionary worker, and his grandfather as we'll, who was d in the same field.
 The interesting letter, describing the conditions exising in India,, is as fol- Jews:
 'Y. M. c. A., India, Aug. 18th, 1921.
 My Dear Clarence Barnes.
 "I am very glad to have this op- portunity of sending a message from Lahore to som tof those who are in- terested in the Foreign Work of the Young Mems Christian Association in India. And am especially glad to tell you a little something of the con- d.tions and work in Lahore, the cap tai city of the great province of the Panjab in North India. The Panjab is at once the granary and the sword arm Of India, supplying a large amount of the wheat, rice and cotton which Is partly consumed in India and rartly exported; and being the home .l sol of Iv, dia, such as the Sikhs, Dogras, Jats aud Panjabi Mussalmans. Lahore is the heart of the Panjab,' as they say. and we can say, like Paul. that we are citizens of no mean city, as La hore has population of about 250,- 900 people and is the headquarters of the Government of this Province of some twenty million folk, while it is the seat of the Panjab University, in connection with which more than five thousand college students are present every year. Lahore is the home of various important religious bodies like the Arya Samaj, and from it radiate streams of culture and influence that reach not only to the ends of this province but even into Afghanistan and Central Asia, with which places there are extensive trade dealings. Before the Mogul Emperors made Agra, and lattr Delhi, their capitals, Lahore ,swas the scene of their courts and fdule, while, earlier still, we kown that Alex der the Great passed through Lahore in the course of his attempted invas- ion of India. But our interest in La hore today lies not so much in it's ancient and proud past, but in the tremendous tide of life and activity wkich surges in the minds and hearts of its people.
 Present Situation.
 "In order to understand this we must take a bird's-eye glance at the present state of affairs in India. We scem to be living in a storm tossed y era, if such a&netaphor may be per- mitted Just now political interests occupy the center of the stage and are absorbing the interest of practically all parties. The chief issue seems to be I whether India will progress more ol X less gradually on the path to the rcalization of self-government and re- r1ain an integral part of the, British Empire, or whether she will make 6 supreme ecort and launch her ship O. state boldly on the uncharted sea O. Swaraj. that is to say complete Homo Rule. There is remarkable similar ity between the situation in Ireland and that in India, with this very i'm portant distinction, however, that il India the movement os practically
 non-violent and b1oodless revolution while in Ireland the people are re
 sorting to force and civil warfare. An fha main reason for this difference mot only in the character of the Tn dian people. but very largely due t the influence and leadership of on
 of the worlds greatest personalitie perhaps in all History. who is usual