Evening star., 1929-01-01

Shall we not all wish India happy
New Year? There is a prospect that
she will need our sympathy In that OIL
rection before 1929 passes. There IS
much unrest there, not wholly attrlb-
utable to the British rule, but rather
to the internal tribal and racial jealous
les. and the unripe ambition of agita-
tors to achieve independence when they
are not capable of exercising the re-
sponsibilities of government, and are
divided racially and religiously.
There is no such country as India,
as unit, any more than Europe IS
unit. In Europe. different races are
recognized as having varying ideals and
states of culture; there is no political
European unity. India is as large as
all Europe except Russia. OF the total
population in India, amounting to 32O,-
O00, 900, all are Hindu except 100000
Moslems. If independence were achieved,
it would mean that in place of British
rule there would be Hindu government.
and that means government which
despises it's 100000 MoSlems. To set
UP a rule over 70,000,000. bound to-
gether by race and religion so filled
with fanaticism and with hatred OF the
majority, would be to inaugurate
period of terror and bloodshed. Not
even quarter billion Hindus can SUD-
ordinate minority equal to more than
half the population of the United States,
without confusion and terror.
It is often overlooked that more than
a third of the provinces OF 1ndla are
under the rule of native princes, whose
DEGREES are local laws; they have nome
government" quite independent OF the
British in all things except relations
with other provinces and with foreign
states. They cannot go to war except
with the sanction of the British. Dur
ing the World War, the Indians fought
so Loyalty on the side OF their BRUSH
rulers that, in a spirit of martial ap-
probation and gratitude. the BRUSH
Minister for India made visit TO tnat
far-off land to show the spirit OF gooo
will, and while there ne gave promises
of home rule "aS soon as possible.
Such promises, though given under
stress of peril of the empire, now come
to haunt the government and to Stlm-
ulate the native agitatorS. In the year
following the armistice, new constltu-
ton, reforming the Indian plan OF gov
ernment, was granted. This enlarged
the participation of the natives IN the
government and granted them the rlgnt
to commissions in the British Army STA
toned in their country. 1t opened many
appointments in the civil service to IN
dians, and created what IS termed a
"dyarchy," or dual form of government,
whose overlapping, and sometimes con-
flicting, functions have ADDED TO tne
unrest, where it was hoped tney woulo
appeaSe the agitators.
49, kN,., f1ff N.
it was provided that after the first 10
wears of its operation there should be
appointed a commission to work out thes
methods of progressive realization OF
responsible government in British India
as an integral part of the British en-
pire"-not as a native government en-
tirelv independent of the British en-
pire. But the growing unrest and
reached such a stage that the commits
sion of investigation was appointed in
1927-two years ahead OF the set time.
X = X X
It would be supererogation to queS-
tion Great Britain's original right in
India. achieved through the trade in
vasion by the East India Co. more thar
a century and half ago. She Is there
and cannot get out, even with the best
of Intentions, without the responsibility
of whatever conditions she would leave
behind. The world has developed many
changes since 1865, and the ethics OF
TODAY were not in existence when the
East India Co. began its trading there.
when it fought the French claiming
RIGHTS in rivalry there, and when 1t
gradually gained such foothold that
the rights of commerce were super
seded by the responsibilities OF empire.
IL ~ II
The East India Co. lost its trading
charter in 1888, after 10 years of ex-
pansion of it's sovereignty. Throughout
fhe 10 years the native dynasties were
recognized for local, provincial govern
ment, and native codes and native re- !
ligions were respected.
Twenty years before that change of |
The form Of inistration-namely in !
l3l3-Christian missionaries began work |
among the Indian Hindus and Mos |
lens, and the British government made |
it's first appropriation for public educa- |;
ton, although 1t was microscopic,
being only $4,000 year toward the |
of three times the population |
of the United States of today. This |
was the beginning of what Macaulay |
the historian, described as the STU
pendous process of reconstruction Of a
decomposed society,""
That was the second period" of Brit
lsh rule in India, beginning with /
schools and missionaries in 1918. Yet,
today. more than century since this
DrOceSS" was undertaken