LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. The most suitable length is that of one of our " News of the Week " paragraphs. Signed letters are given a preference over those bearing a pseudonym.—Ed. THE SPECTATOR.]
INDIA PREPARING FOR SWARAJ
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,--The, India Reform Bill will probably be passed by Par- liament before the end of August, and India may be said to be now preparing to work the Reforms—preparing for Swaraj. It should be emphasized that the largest party in India that counts is the Congress Party, now composed entirely of Hindus. For the first time in its long history and struggle the Congress has realized that whatever its members or its leaders spoke outside, on public platforms the real power, however small it might be, was to be found in the legislatures of the country, and that if their programme was to be successful they had to make, use of the legislatures as well.
At the very first opportunity that presented itself the Congress went to the polls having declared its faith in a " par- liamentary programme " and having appointed a " parlia- mentary body " to manage this part of its political programme. It does not matter what the election pledges of the Congress party were or .how that party's war cries during the election sounded and aroused the electorate. What really mattered was the recognition that there was power to be captured in both the Central and the Provincial Councils.
With the capture of that power came the consciousness of possessing it and the natural desire to use it. Therefore, Mr. Satyamurty's recent challenge at a recent civic reception given to him at Madras as the leader of the Congress Party and its. Secretary, to the effect that " within 18 months from May of this year the Congress would be ruling the Provinces," is understandable. His other reminder, to the Association of Central Unemployed in one of the provincial towns in the Madras presidency is also illuminating. One has no quarrel with him when he says that " the Congress even after assuming responsibility in the Provinces cannot work wonders, whether it is the field of unemployment or otherwise." His answer at a recent Nagpur meeting to a question—" what he as a Con- gress minister would do if the civil disobedience movement were to be revived," is also quite frank. Mr. Satyamurty declared that " under the Congress regime the civil disobe- dience prisoners would at least be given a better diet and their gaols would be better looked after by a Congress minister." Again, his definite announcement recently at a Trichinopoly meeting to the effect that " Congress would accept offices under the new constitution and they would contest every post," is precise, definite, and must be taken to have been said with some amount of responsibility.
The question may be asked : whom does Mr. Satyamurty represent as he talks of his " programme " and " the orienta- tion of the Congress policy " in the months to come ? The answer is that Mr. Satyamurty represents the voters of the City of Madras which is by no means in the background in modern Indian politics and in the recent activities of the Congress. Mr. Satyamurty represents again a City which has preferred him to the Dewan Bahadur Ramaswamy Mudaliar, the leader of the Justice party. In addition to this Mr. Satya- murty has now been elected as the President of the Tamil Naidu Congress Committee, a branch of the Congress organiza- tion which controls the politics and the policy of the Congress in the whole of South India, excluding the Andhra districts, and the Indian States of Puducottah, Mysore, Travancore and Cochin. It should not be forgotten also that Mr. Satyamurty's name has been chosen by no less a person than Mr. C. Rajago- palachariar, the veteran South Indian leader of the Congress, to succeed him as the President of the Provincial Congres3 Committee. That Committee again has elected Mr. Satya- murty to an undoubtedly exalted post knowing full well that Mr. Satyamurty is the Secretary of the Congress party in the Assembly, that he is prepared to accept office in a new con- stitution when the time comes and after hearing all his opinions and views in the matter of a political programme for the presidency.
This can have only one meaning ; Mr. Satyamurty is to be given unlimited powers in his capacity as the President of the Tamil Naidu Congress Committee. His electorate is
prepared to back him up when the time comes for him to stand as a candidate under the new constitution, and that they have faith in his programme believing as he does in the rule by parties, and cabinet government. His programme includes : " Provincial Councils by the Congress ; the forma- tion of a Congress Party ministry in the province; and finally, the capture of local bodies." All this is to be done " under the aegis and with the assistance of the new constitution," be it noted.
Surely this is not " wrecking a constitution," by any means or by any stretch of argument. The whole Congress Party with the exception of a few irreconcilable extremists, mostly violent Socialists, are supporting Mr. Satyamurty's programme. It looks as though Congress leaders are now all out for " assis- tance to the new constitution." Hardly six months have passed since the general elections were held to the Central legislature. As Mr. Gandhi keeps emphasizing : " The Parliamentary Mentality has come to stay."
Dr. Shafat Ahmed Khan, speaking at the Allahabad University the other day, said that " one of the healthiest signs of recent Indian political thought was the emergence of provincial patriotism in an intelligible and clear form and that provincial autonomy was the prerequisite to national solidarity." The utterances of Congress leaders and the trend of events in the premier intellectual province in India amply illustrates this by accepting the principle of provincial autonomy : having the right to make ministries and to break them at will, it is not difficult to visualize a time when all provinces in India will be brought together in one common bond and towards one purpose, viz., accepting the Federation and to agree to be the units of a Federation of India.
This is not a mere dream or an optimistic estimate. There was a great politician and great student of Constitutional History who passed away early in the month of February last year dreaming of a Federation of India, and he was hoping that " the Congress would come back to realities and to sanity in politics." That man was Mr. A. Rangaswami Iyengar, the very talented and distinguished editor of the Hindu of Madras, who did much through the great paper he edited and influenced, to bring Congress politics to some
" sense of realities and values." Mr. Iyengar said : It is not by electoral artifices or by various complicated arrange- ments, necessary as they are, and sound as they must be, that the ultimate success of Swaraj in India depends. It is the organization of the people of the country into a body of worthy and efficient citizens that will make for the elevation and the progress of this country."
There is no doubt that Madras is organizing itself. Congress leaders realize that a great opportunity is before them to give Madras, and through the politics of that province, to the great Indian national organization, viz., the Congress, an excellent lead. Before many months have elapsed it is quite possible that Provincial Congress leaders will pass resolutions thanking Sir Samuel Hoare and Mr. Baldwin for the new Constitution.—I am, Sir, yours, &c.,
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