Evening star., 1943-02-22

easy I'm going to tell you little
story.
World War Assignment,
Back III the last World War the
India Office in London asked the
Associated Press to send me East
10 investigate whether there was
any truth in a widespread report in
the United States that there was
a bloody revolution in India and
that the British empire was break
ing up This story naturally was
most damaging to the Allied cause
L was given this assignment, and
Just before I left London for Bonn
bay the permanent undersecretary
of state for India sent for me.
Said he:
I'VE are throwing India wide
Allies are in a life and death strug-
gle. You are leaving here with
more official credentials than any
neW5paperman ever had before
Under the circumstances I'm bound
to ask you whether you are going
out there to commit assault and
battery on us.
Well I replied, whatever l
write from India will be the truth.
l don't write propaganda for any
body. However, l recognize that
the Allies are in tough spot, and
If I find conditions in India so bad
that publication of the facts would
disrupt the Allied cause. then l
won't write anything at all
The undersecretary laughed and
said:
Il can't ask anything fairer than
that. Bon voyoge
And that's the way things stand
right now
Basis of Conclusions.
Thus l came away from India at
the end Of January with the good
will of both officialdom and the
Indian leaders. despite the nature
of the explosive package which I
carried.
Having made sweeping assertions
regarding the vital importance of
the Indian crisis, and the urgency
of settling it in the immediate
future, my next duty is to state the
premises for such conclusions. Shorn
of details they are these:
/. India not only is the arsenal of
the Orient, but Strategically it is
one of the most essential of all the
Allied military bases
This huge subcontinent is the
wedge which has divided the Axis
from the Japanese
1t is one of the major bases. may
be the major base, for initial Allied
operations against the Japs when
Hitler has been rendered impotent.
1t is from India that the Allies will
swing mighty battering ram across
the Bay of Bengal against Japanese
occupied Burma.
That back door to China must be
reopened so that supplies may pour
through it for the annihilation OF
| the Nipponese on the continent.
Strategically Located.
2. Postwar security for the ideals
of the Atlantic Charter makes ii
imperative that this strategically To-
! Gated India should be unified
member of the United Nations.
India must be protector against
potential enemies of the Allied
peace. More than that, she must be
the shock absorber if riffs by any
chance should appear in the Allied
structure in the Orient. ~ ''F'
3. AS to the urgency of a settle
ment OF the Indian differences, there
can be no question: The way see it
there are three cogent, reasons for
haste:
First, India is a house divided
against itself. While the authorities
assured me they had things we'll in
hand, they also said there was a
continuance of the disturbances
which stemmed from the collapse of
the Cripps negotiations last summer
There have been bombings and
sabotage of various sorts, with cas-
ualties among both police and ci-
villains.
Without unity in this stronghold,
the Allies must approach the COM
ing offensive against Japan with
great uneasiness. The wheels of the
arsenal must turn more slowly if at
all, and the coming offensive will
suffer in striking power.
Food Situation Serious.
Secondly, this land where the
great majority of the approximately
4o0,000,000 people always are hungry
is up against an unusual food short
age. This is likely to come to head