Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-03-11
CLOUDS OVER INDIA

1.-TWO crises are dovetailed. or rather
i situation Of chronic delicacy has been
veneered with factonal ncdentals in the
latest dilemma which the Prime Minister
Of Great Britain has been called upon to
face.
The political externals Of the case are Of
q savory sensationalism reminiscent in
1 way of the Wilson Lansing tare-up. Mr.
. LLOYD George is deeply vexed at the pre-
, sumption Of Edwin S. Montagu, Secretary
Of State for India. In publishing without
I consultation with the Cabinet the demand
I Of the Indian Government for revision Of
the Treaty of Sevres.
~ The irrtated Prime Minister asserts that
this independence of action is indefens!blc
and would, if adopted as Il policy by other
overseas dominions. result in the disruption
Of the foreign policy of the empire. i'm
periling it's very existence. Mr.. Montasu's 5
resignation has been demanded and re-
ceiyed.
lu British political circles interest IN Mr..
N0yd Georges maneuvering abilities Is
naturally keen. 1t is intmated that the
forces of conservatism. lately restive under
the Coalition Government, will be strength
ened in the appointment Of new Indian
Secretary.
Winston Churchill is prominently men,
tioned for the post But the expected sur
vival of the present Lloyd George admins.
tration will leave virtually untouched the
basis for Mr.. Montagu's drastic move.
His appeal for a redrafting of the treaty.
which has offended coalescinS elements in
the Mohammedan world. Is said to have been
publicly made Mt the request of the Viceroy,
Lord Reading. As this administrator Is in
no sense a sensationalist, it Is plain that
the problem of unrest in India has reached
q critical stage.
Islam, which was by no means solidly pro-
Turkish while the Ottomans were installed
IN Europe, has grown increasingly resent
ful in the progress of events in the Near
East. In Egypt, in India, even 1t is said in
those French and Dutch possessions peo.
pied by Moslems. a new fusion of purposes
has been manifested.
It has not been forgotten that for CEN
turtles the religious prestige once enjoyed by
the Caliphate at Bagdad centered in Con-
sstantinople That historic city is now
nominally under the joint control Of the
Allies but it is no secret that British in
fiuence there is paramount. What remains
of the old Ottoman Empire is now restricted
to q comparatively small territory in Ana
tolia.
The unification OF Mohammedan sentiment
10 q danger which has frequently been dis
cussed, but the dissensions of Sunnite and
Shiite sects, the racial antagonisms between
Turanian Turks and pure -blooded white
Semitic Arabs have initiated against any
really formidable cohesion.
# It is of record that the aristocrats Of
Mecca and Medina long chafed under Turk
ish suzerainty, and Prince Fesal and the
tribes of the Hedjaz gave, in their assist
. ance to the Allies in the war, solid proof Of
this antipathy. The belief seems to have
been entertained in England that division
OF Mohammedan sentiment could be perna-
Aently effected.
Apparently the French was the first of
Christian Governments to realize the basic
any unchanging nature Of the East. A
Sractical result of this view was the nego-
tiation Of the treaty of Angora, which
recognized the Government of Mustapha
Kemal and suggested a deliberate policy of
lconciliation with MOslem interests.
The feeling prevails in Paris that Eng
lish opposition to this covenant is likely to
subside under pressure from recent events.
Developments of the Near East conference
soon to be held in the French capital may
react significantly to the serious situation in
India.
3 While It Is true that in that empire the
followers Of the Prophet number only about
70 per cent of the total population, pro-
tests against the extinction Of Turkey fit
Sonveniently into the Gandhi movement
among the Brahmins.
As ever In the past 1t Is the union Of the
two sects In common cause that consti-
tutes q potent menace to the British EN-
pire. Not since the Mutiny of 1857 have
Ahey found a common ground Of dscon-
1enf.
\ The prospects Of anything like repetition
uesthat sprising need hardly be regarded %
sliipaelists. Gsndhi b paci6st, prac-