Hartford chronicle., 1946-09-14
THE CHRONICLE

sponsible only to the Secretary of State for the Colonies in London and who has veto power over all the acts of a Legislative Council by himself to a preponderant num- Der over members elected by the property franchise (except in those colonies like Jamaica which gained universal manhood suffrage during the course of World War ID. It will readily be seen that the Inn perial Government takes no chances. Not only does it own the checker-board, but it also makes all the moves. Thus the popular will is thwarted before it starts. Government is game of solitaire. The popular will can express it. self only in outbreaks which are bloodily suppressed. To paraphrase the Earl of Halifax, reforms are robbed of their grace when con- ceded after the recommendations of Royal Commissions, and these reforms have never touched fun damentals.
 The Roots Of The Problems
 It is the special merit of EM- PIRE AND DEMOCRACY, the book by Professor Barnes, to have gone to the very roots of the prob
 lem of imperialism. His sugges- tions for it's solution are states manlike in their realistic grasp of actual conditions as they vary from locality to locality. Thus he
 correctly terms India "the great
 est of all colonies and one ripe for
 independence and capable of exer-
 cising it without delay" (page 263), adding that 'sthe freeing of India tomorrow might we'll mean
 the liquidation of half the empires of the world the day after.'
 regret that Professor Barnes fails to state the importance of Indian independence from the standpoint of world historical per- spectives. Thus viewed, India oc- cupies the same relative position today that the thirteen colonies occupied in 1776; they liberated themselves from the shackles of mercantilism and formed the
 United States. India is seeking to free herself from the coils of f. nance-capitalist imperialism. If she succeeds, she will be the first col ony or semi-colonia1 nation to do so. It is, and will be, a tremen- dous task for the Indian people to perform, and Professor Barnes acutely senses what will follow in the wake of Indian independence. He writes: "Indian independence would be quickly followed by in- dependence for Burma, Ceylon, and, after the introduction of adult suffrage, the West Indies. A self governing African federation would be gradually built up on a similar model. A precedent guar anteeing the destiny of all British dependencies would have been es- tablished, and perhaps a mortal blow dealt at the whole policy of imperialism"
 MT. Barnes issued his book for the purpose of indicating to the democratic and progressive move ment in Britain how it's interests could be served in peace-time, it is important to note, if it endeav- ored to secure full democratic rights for the colonial peoples as the first step toward their event. tual liberation. I do not hesitate to say, as I have said while I was in England, that I have found few colonials who did not find his pro- posals reasonable and in keeping with the best interests of their countries. Natives might differ as to ultimate goals, but they ac- cepted almost without alteration the constitutional reforms which he suggests. This fact was borne out by the text of the main reso- lution issued by the Conference on the African Peoples, Democracy, and World Peace, which was held in London from July 2 to July g, 1889, and in which it was my good fortune to take part. It was a l Conference attended by delegates 1 from all parts of Negro Africa | and the West Indies, and for three days they discussed all their prin- cipal economic, social, and politi- gal problems with the utmost | frankness and thoroughness. course in sociology and will he available for informal discussions |