LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
THE INDIAN VILLAGER
six,—We have seen the rejection of the ambitious plan which Sir Stafford capps strove to bring into being with so much misplaced ability. Its failure must have been anticipated by anyone with any knowledge of India. Apart from the little-discussed proposals which would have split India into incoherent fragments, the scheme aimed at achieving the impossible. The Congress party was determined to impose an oligarchy upon the continent. The Mahommedans, rather than be placed under the heel of their hereditary enemies, clamoured for the aforesaid dis- ruptive clauses. The Princes feared that their treaties would be regarded scraps of paper. The Sikhs, the Untouchables, and many others all had their own fears and dislikes. Above all, the patient toilers, hundreds of millions of them, were ignored as if they did not exist. We do not give them adequate protection from the bunnia, but at least we guard them against overt oppression. Under Congress rule they would be ground to powder. Thus the scheme has died unlamented, and nothing tmilar to it should ever be brought forward again. As the late F. H. Bradley said—it is immoral and impossible.
The next scheme should be realistic—it should recognise the real India, the villages. It is only necessary to revive the Village Panchayats. These were in existence thousands of years ago. A description of one such assembly may be found in the Head. Moat unfortunately, they were allowed to decay under British -Me. But they might well be revived, and, in fact, in 1908 a strong Commission reported in their favour. It was, however, the time of " Reforms," and the voice of wisdom was ignored. It is, of course, impossible in this place to outline 'a scheme which would give India real self-government. Suffice it to say, that a beginning might be made with the Village Assemblies, and on their foundation we could build a Provincial Assembly and a Legislative Assembly. Then would the cultivator at last have his wrongs redressed and his interests furthered.
Schemes for promoting Parliamentary institutions—which most nations have tried and rejected—make more show in the newspapers. The rebuilding of the Panchayats requires hard and obscure spadework. But the ability of the Indian Civil Service is equal to the task, and we should he giving the Indian cultivator bread instead of the indigestible stone which we have hitherto offered him. Take care of the villages and India will take care of am, Sir, yours, &c., W. A. HIRST, Sometime Principal of Gujarat College, Ahmedabad.
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