Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-26
A New Status for India?

friends. with a religious faith in the
civilizing mission of his race.
The measure Of his fame and pres
tige two years prior to his elevation to
the viceroyalty may be gagged from the
fact that when his kinsman, the Earl
of Balfour. the star of his clan, got
tired Of Geneva and declined to repre-
sent Britain again on the League, and
Eugene Wood, the new minister OF euu-
cation. was appointed in his place,
newspaper men had to go to the files
to md out enough to make a para
s--auh about the newcomer. and there
was an uproar and much oitJsE 49,
cism by upholders of the League on the
grounds that this quiet and unknown
man would sound at Geneva like a
tinkle amid the mighty orchestra of
eminent foreign statesmen. and Eng
land would be let down in the inter-
national sphere.
Begins India Regime.
So 1t happened that this dutiful Eng
fish country squire was looked after by
his friend and admircr, Stanley Bald
win, and approved for the viceroyalty
in 1926 for no one had anything
against him, and he was acknowledge
on all sides to be a very religious mas.
and 1t was generally said that the IL.
dian tribes. In whose daily life religion
plays so important a part, would have
an added respect for such a man. So.
made peer In his own right las is
customary, he sailed for the East, was
welcomed at Bombay, the gateway OF.
India, by Indian princes and the gov-7
ernor OF the province, and travelled on
to Delhi, the new seat of British Cow
eminent in Indian, was received with
military pageantFy on the lawn of the
viceregal lodge and walked slowly up
the steps-and began his regime.
A curious experience for a peculiarly
English man who had never travelled in
India or had previous experience of
Indian life and problems And yet not
SO difficult, after all, in technical detail:
for the viceroy has at his back the
accumulated traditions of $50 years of
British rule and the tightest. and most
strongly organized bureaucracy in the
world. Besides everything on the cere-
monial and social side is simpler now.
Only a residuum of the old pic
tureSque pageantry and formal etiquette
remains In the ritual at Government
House. Grant parades costing any
thing from $4,000 to $500 0O0 with
fireworks $4,000 item in the bill of
expenses, are things of the past. If
the viceroy wants big tusker for an
| elephant parade, he has to borrow one
from one of the maharajahs. There
are none in the viceregal establish,
ment.
Not as in Old Days. "a
The modern ways would have made
the old governors general shake their
heads and talk loudly Of the empire and
of the worlds end. Warren Hastings
whose wife. appointed a chamberlain,
had her train upheld by pages and re-
CURED ladies to wear plunes at Gov
eminent House functions as at royal
court in England-gave dinners at
which the toasts were the King, the
Queen and the royal family, the East
India Co., the army and navy, the COM
mander-in-chief and success to the
British arms in India. Each toast was
followed by a salute Of 81 guns from
cannon outside.
There was little dancing In those
days, because by the time the gentlemen
were through the obligatory and the
unof1cial toasts and their own private
interim libations they were too drunk
to stand. Gambling and duels enlivened
Calcutta life instead. 8
When the epoch of heavy drinking
passed and It was no longer considered
g mark Of respect to your host and a
sign Of your own robust masculinity to
drink yourself under the table, the
ladies had better time. The chron-
icleS of this intermediate period are
/
ners, splendid entertainments and i'm
menSe balls.
In the regime OF the Marques Cur
zon. "a years ago, they served 1900
meals at Government House In one
month. Two thousand men would at
tend levee, 500 women came to q
drawing room and 5000 of both sexes
attended q state ball. Still Curzon, an
energetic manager, got the total amount
cost OF the viceroyalty, including ON
cial Journeys, wages and pensions,
maintenance Of palaces and the rest.
down to $360,000, and was very proud
of the feat. q
Now further cut has been made by :
the removal Of the seat of government
from Calcutta, the biggest and richest
city In India, to old Delhi, where the
society is exclusively oficial. But still
viceroys usually return poorer than they
60 out.
The regalia remains. But that Is
because the Oriental mind Is impressed
by symbols, and the British have
shrewdly invested their chief represent
ative with all the emblems that from
time immemorable have been coupled
state occasions the treasure house Ii
raided by the master of ceremonies, and
the viceroy finds himself surrounded by
regalia worth kings ransom. ~
Each Object Has Meaning.
Every object has a mystic meaning.
The gold mace borne by the chobdars is
a monopoly Of kings and royal princes.
The lion-faced club signifies royalty
combined with justice. The fly-whisk
made of a yak's tail keeps of evil spirits
as well as fiies. The short spears with
long heads are emblems of dignity re-
served for rajahs. Even the punkah IS
not purely utilitarian-it also banishes
depression from the august browS3
while the thousand eyes in the gorgeous
peacock feather fans which back the
viceroy at the reception of native chief
are supposed to confront any evil eye
that happens to be around and daunt It,
The gold-embroidere umbrella which
shelters the viceregal head on all state
occasions has ceremonial significance
all its own. 1t is one of the oldest and
most venerated symbols of royalty in
Asia. On one occasion 1t saved the life
OF viceroy. An assassin heaved a
bomb at him from the roof of q house
as he passed in his golden howdah on
the back of q painted elephant, and
that bomb would have fallen at his feet
and shattered him but for the interview
ton Of the sacred umbrella. The flying
bomb hit the stick and broke it, but
was thus diverted and exploded harm
lessly at the back Of the howdah.
Extremists recently bombed Lord r.
wins train, and no doubt the viceroy'S
escape Is attributed by many q super
stitious Oriental mind to the inevitable
presence about him of the sacred re-
gala.
Severe Test Ahead.
What happens in 1890 no one can tell.
But it looks like being a severe testing
time: Irwin thinks he has averted the
worst dangers by his decla rntinns upIaich