LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
[Letters of the length of one of our leading paragraphs are often more read, and therefore more effective, than those which fill treble the space.] --
THE INDIAN 'UNREST.
[To Tin Enron OF Tar " SPLCUTOR."3 Snt,—On my arrival from India a week or so ago I was Immensely impressed by the lack of real interest in the very meagre Indian news that did eventually reach the British public through the medium of the Press. Is this policy wise? 'Can nothing be done towards removing the apathy in this connexion that appears to have fallen upon a large faction of the people of England? Is it nothing to them that men of their own race have been brutally murdered, beaten to death, their women and children hounded through the streets? Think what that means in a land held chiefly, if not entirely, by our prestige. And don't let us forget to demand a severe punishment for the real offenders—i.e., the Anti-British Rule agitators, who have thus so ably demonstrated their own uru-eadiness for Home Rule. Why not deport them, not so very far from the Afghan frontier, place them up against the Afghans, or any of the " Buffer " tribes? Home Rule would not be their cry then. I was in Delhi from March 80th, and later on read the insolent poster inciting the populace to murder all Europeans which was ported up on the-clock-tower in the Chandi Chowk. Those who understand the real India at to-day stood appalled at the Viceroy's evident ignorance of the tall* state of affairs as evinced in his cable, dated I think April 2nd, in which he stated "All was quiet." If others knew how near the surface lay the conspiracy which culminated a few days later, surely lie should have done so. Then why mislead the people at home? Is it not time it was known exactly where the present policy will eventually place our fellow-countrymen? I left Delhi on the evening of April 9th far Rawal Pindi; was in Amritsar on the fateful 10th; was on the mail train held up by political agitators at Karam on the 12th; saw the brave stand made by the handful of Englishmen, all, save one, unarmed. Blame for that is only due to the fact that no currency was at first allowed as to the true state of unrest. On the return journey I happened to be in Gujranwala when the trouble broke out there, and eventually arrived at Lahore the night martial law was declared. I also know the truth about the Ahmedabad affair.
It is difficult to write about -that time without giving my pen full rein, and perhaps taking up too much of your space, but I should like to ask whether anything is known over here of the powerful stand taken by Sir M. O'Dwyer, Lieutenant- Governor of the Punjab. It is not the slightest exaggeration to say that his clear, strong, and long-sighted administration of a terrible situation saved not only the Punjab, but India also—for the time. I have never met him, but I know very well the reputation he has as a just man, who believes in, and deals out, equal justice alike to his white as well as his brown brother.
It is early in June. The English countryside is restful and comforting, but my thoughts will fly back to the sun-scorched land that I have just left—India in June. I see the worn-out men that are holding her, many of them obliged to go on again this year without the chalice of leave Home (for all leave was stopped in India on April 15th), and all those who had previous to that date managed to "wangle" a short skip Home have, I know, been recalled. Weary and sick at heart with the apparent callousness of those in power at Home, who give but an apathetic ear to their just demands, who have no real knowledge of the India of to-day, I know too well they are. Do we not owe a little to them? We hear a great deal about the Indian and his rights. Cannot a little attention be given to the Englishman and his wrongs ?
If the Reform scheme as it is at present constituted does go through, it will mean the resignation of more than half the men in the Services. Also, if the future conditions of Govern- ment Services for the white man were made public—truth- fully—recruitment would stop at once. To the builders of the scheme it matters little how it will affect those whom they propose shall carry it through. They themselves are (or so it is to be hoped) almost time-expired. I am by no means alone in saying that no son of mine shall be duped by the offers of the various Indian Services.
It is time we Britisher& faced the truth. Reforms for India, yes; but if India wants the co-operation of the right class of Englishman such Reform must include just consideration of the claims of Englishmen to be treated as such. Do the people of England know nothing of the never-ending tension and anxiety that surround the lives of their countrymen in India? Surely we, who do know, who do realise the strain of it all, should rouse ourselves to do something to lighten the present conditions, instead of calmly allowing the minority to rash through a scheone.which will make their lot not only harder but impossible. Think of the effort it must be costing to take on this Afghan show at the beginning of the hot weather, after the stress of the last few years, spent, mind you, in a land where most things, including the climate, are against them—their nerves jagged with disappointment at the lack of consideration which has always been meted out to the white man in India.
For those wishing to see a really unbiassed, just, true, and considerate criticism of the Montagu-Chelmsford scheme, may I commend Sir J. P. Hewett's Note on the Indian Reform Proposals?
There must be many of us from India over here now. Can we not do something correctly to represent, In the proper quarter, a few of the grievances which the present policy of laissez-faire in connexion with the white man's outlook in India as embodied in the Montagu-Chelmsford Report has
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