28 JANUARY 1928, Page 2

The India Commission left London on Thursday, January 19th, and

in a speech on the same day Lord Birkenhead suggested that the members of the Coin-. mission who are members of the House of Commons ought not to be allowed to suffer any anxiety about their • seats. We quite agree. The CommissiOn repre- sents all parties, and it ought to be possible in the constituencies to reach an agreement by which the seats should not be contested until the Commission has finished its work. Meanwhile there is a' new good sign in India. The Calcutta correspondent of the Times says that Sir Abdur Rahim, the Moslem leader, has described the proposals for a 'lariat, or day of mourning, when 'the Simon Commission arrives as unwise and' undesirable. Sir Abdur Rahim suggests that the Com- mission should ask the Government of India to appoint a Committee of Indians to join in the inquiry. Their report might either be incorporated in the ComMssion's Report or be sent to Parliament by the Government of India. This corresponds with the proposal of the Labour Party here. It is at least a change from a wrecking spirit to' one' of construction: Sir -Abdur Rahim was among the first advocates of a boycott.

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