On Monday Mr. Morley made an important speech on Indian
affairs at Arbroath. He defended himself against the charge that be had abandoned his Liberal principles, and declared that, in spite of all criticism by his friends, he held that the first and commanding task of Britain in India was to keep order, quell violence, and sternly insist upon impartial justice. The suggestion that what suited Canada would suit India was the height of political folly. The Government of India would neither be hurried by impatient idealists, nor driven into needless measures of coercion by repressionists. The situation in India was not at all dangerous, yet it required serious and vigilant attention. The Government were appealing to that " better mind " which he believed existed in all great communities of the human race. The root of the unrest was racial, not political. We heartily congratulate Mr. Morley on his courageous speech, which was marked by his unfailing candour and honesty. We notice that it has not quelled the criticism of advanced Liberals, who still refuse to face the truth that in this crisis there is no alternative between ruling and not ruling. As Mr. Morley asked, do they wish to withdraw the Army and the whole Civil Service from India ? The unwillingness or inability of Liberal doctrinaires to face the possibility of violence and wrong on the part of other peoples, although they most willingly suspect it among their own friends, is indeed astonishing. Mr. Morley is found fault with because he does face the facts, and behaves like a man of sense who bears a terrible responsibility. For ourselves, we can pay him no better compliment than to say that his action has been such as we should always have expected from him.
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