Evening star., 1924-02-16

English staUeslHanship scored when
an unconditional lardOn was issued
recently to Mohandas Gandhi. the In
dian patriot. who led the fight for the
independence Of India. Out OF Jail
he will prove far less of an obstcle
TO a stable British rule than incarI
! oerated and Il martyr, in the opinion
of many editors. Threats of the
! Swaraj. Indian nationalist party,
that il would ohstruct the orderly
processes of government had little
bearing on the case, these editors
assert.
TT is question now" the New
York Times feels, whether Gandhi
has not served the purpose of the
practical man in India. A higher type
than Eamonn de Valera, it remains TO
be seen whether IT liberty he will
fade out OF the picture as rapidly. as
the Irish leader has done" All
Gandhi had was Il policy and
creed according TO the Worcester
Gazette, but his policy of non-co-
operation was a picturesque and in
some ways an appealing struggle,
. but based on the imaginary condi-
tions of the day when dogs won't
and all men will treat all other men
as brothers. Exaggerated idealism
produces tragedies-and little else"
BY denying that western indus
trial civilization is a blessing to In
dia and advocating return to hand
spinning and other primitive wa%s,"
the Rochester Times Union argues, he
| was fighting the tide of progress.
although "a man who has done as
much as has Gandhi toward accom-
n a nf
ating unity out of endless diversity
must be conceded a place among the
worlds leaders at this or any other
time"
Even the most conscientious
among the white race sometimes
question the advisa bility of the self
determination urged by Woodrow
Wilson. The yellow race may be
subjugated for a few centuries, but
it will always remain. in it's own
! lands. And az soon as it shows the
capacity of administration it will al
ways be privileged to take over what
rightfully belongs to it," To which
the Louisville Courier-JournaI adds
that Britain will permit India to
work out it's own problems as far as
it can, but if the wild men attempt
70 "TeCh the mouse DullC Tor Cnem
Delhi and the Indian office may be ex-
pected to take a vigorous hand"
And the Providence Tribune insists
that "Gandhi has lost his hold upon
| the Indian people. and the British
government does not fear his person.
ality or his ideas any longer, although
had he died in jail he would have
been martyr. and that fact would
have been exploited by the rabid ma
tionalist leaders," That his influence
n al
discovery" to Gandhi the Manchester
Union holds, but he has since ad-
mitted that his meditations while in
| Jail brought new UNDERSTANDINGS of
the gravity and complexities of the
problems he was trying to solve, and
| he is now convinced that some way
must be found to a constructive pro-
! gram SO wise and far-seeing that the
| obedience" And it was because the
British government wisely" used
| him humanely, although breaking
his personal contact with the mob"
that his influence came to an end. the
Los Angeles Times believes.
"Gandhi became n god to those
! whose cause he championed." the
Springfield News points out. "but it
was consistent with his methods that
| he accepted the prison sentence si-
| lently and without any attempt to
keep the country stirred up with re-
bellion during his incarceration. Just
] what his attitude will be, now that
| he has gained his release, cannot be
| foretold. He has been a very sick
| man, and physicians have declared
| that the needs of six-month rest to
| restore his health After that, who
| knows but that conditions in India
shall have been SO much improved
| that Gandhi's crusade will no further
! be needed"
The Des Moines Tribune, however,
| is convinced "he cannot and will not
quit his program of non-resistance.
The man who acknowledged all the
charges his opponen brought against
| him, who forgave them his trial and
| Imprisonment, who endured indigni-
| ties and sufferings that have been
1 compared by Christians to those ct
I the Nazarene, has not traded his soil
for his freedom. He is the most in