Evening star., 1942-04-05


fore as the chief bone Of contention.
Although unquestionably liberal in both
letter and spirit, it is apparent that the
British proposals have aroused little en-
thusiasm in India. Moreover, there is
no favorable response from the Indian
masses to the strong argument that en-
slavement by the Japanese would be a
far worse fate than temporary continual
ton of British rule.
The plain and inescapable fact is that
throughout the Far East, with the single
exception of the Philippines, the effort TO
stimulate native resistance to Japanese
aggression has proved a boomerang.
China, fighting as an independent ma
ton to preserve its independence, is Of
course in class apart. But elsewhere
in Indo-China, Malaga, Burma, the East
Indies and now in India proper, apathy
if not actual acquiescence in the prospect
of japanese conquest is all too apparent.
In other words, the French, the Dutch
and the British have all handled their
self-appointed task Of imperial rule too
well. They have so thoroughly sub
jected the great mass of natives as to
make mere change of alien government
seem no very vital matter BY warning
of Japanese enslavement they may in
deed be raising in certain primitive minds
the question of whether they are not
enslaved already.
Rejection Held Tragedy.
1t is no mere coincidence that in the
Philippine Commonwealth alone have
the native peoples rallied with any
enthusiasm to the cause of the United
Nations. 1t is the inevitable consequence
OF the white imperialist attitude that as
the power behind its autocratic empire
fails the subject peoples look with in
difference, even in some cases with vim
dictive satisfaction on the debacle.
And that, if we care to learn the les
son, is why so eminently reasonable and
promising program as the British pro-
posalS for India are beset with un-
expected difficulties If the Indian
leaders should irrevocably reject this
constructive plan it would be tragic and
deplorable. But for any one who knows
anything of the Far East and the
antagonism to white overlordShip, which
IN recent years has steadily developed
there, the outcome would at least be
| understandable
There is somber irony in the coinci-
dence of this tense period with Holy
| Week, the most sacred days in the
calendar Of those Christian nations
which, in their suicidal strife, are so
successfully destroying the material
fabric of their civilization.
For there is indication that what the
Indian leaders are inclined to reject is
not merely the expert political guidance
of the West. but perhaps rather that
ethical and moral leadership which is
inevitably called in question by the pres
ent carnage of bitterness and hate.
No Discrimination.
OF course, 1t IS clear to us that the
German branch of the white race is
solely and completely responsible for the
undermining of western civilization. But
TO expect equal discrimination among
the native peoples of the East is asking
a good deal. For many Of them the dis
tinction which We draw between the
Neo-PaganiSm of the Axis and the
Christianity of the United Nations is
somewhat subtle. For many of them
white imperialism was a unit in its de-
velopment and is unit in its decline.
The commentators who point out that
the turn of events in India is no mere
domestic problem of Great Britain are
supremely right. It is a matter Of world
wide Importance, to no people more so
than to ourselves, when the fear and the
respect which the white man has hereto
fore inspired in the Orient begin to
evaporate. The development brings us
face to face with the unanswered ques-
ton of whether We have some formula
other than mere force with which to
counter the situation.
Force has not held "the gorgeous East
in fee" And force alone is not likely
to restore the crumbling foundations Of
white imperialism. That being so,
Easter would seem a most appropriate
time to consider whether this country
can offer the Orient a doctrine more
effective than that in which our enemies
unqueStionably excel