MR. LLOYD GEORGE ON INDIA
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sta,—Mr. Lionel James's statement that " duplicity is traditionally admired in India," ought not to pass without some protest. 'Truth and honesty—in others—are just as much admired in India as they are in Costa Rica or in the City of London ; but in India, as in LOndon—as some of us have lately learnt to our cost—these admirable qUalities are not always employed by their admirers. Mr. James's " tradition " is about as accurate as Mr. Rudyard Kipling's statement that there " ain't no Ten Commandments " East of Suez. There are not ten command- ments because there happen to be about twenty, including a prohibition against strong drink and against the taking of life for sport or even in some cases for food. The other commandments East of Suez concerning the imperative necessity of showing mercy to our enemies, even should they be mutinous sepoys or defeated Germans, and the injunction to cleanse ourselves both before prayer and before
taking food, do not always in Europe command the respect they deserve.
Personally, I have experienced more dishonesty in Europe than I suffered from in India, and judging by the complaints of one's friends my experience is not singular. Lord Curzon was not the only administrator in the East whose work was made more difficult by the fact that these " tra- ditions " concerning India are apt to be believed in by thousands of young men going East, who proceed joyfully to live down to them—often with disastrous results—especially when, for example, they are unaware that adultery, which is not even a misdemeanour in England, is a serious crime in India.
Some of our traditions concerning India would seem to need
a little revision.—I am, Sir, &c., ARTHUR OSBURN. Polperro, Cornwall.
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