A debate on the recent changes in the military adminis-
tration of the Government of India was opened by Lord Curzon in the House of Lords on Monday. We have not space even to summarise the speeches delivered by Lord Morley, Lord Lansdowne, Lord MacDonnell, Lord Midleton, and others, but may. draw attention to the short but weighty contribution of Lord Cromer. Lord Cromer, while expressing great sympathy with Lord Morley's general policy, was inclined to think that they were perhaps going too fast. It could not be too often repeated that we were the only Imperial nation which endeavoured to govern a dependency by a native Army officered by Europeans, and the first question a wise Viceroy would ask himself when any proposal was brought before him would be: How would it affect the native Army? In these circumstances, he thought it most desirable that the Viceroy should always have at his elbow an officer of great experience to give him the best possible advice, and at no time was this more necessary and important than at the present. Lord Curzon, in withdrawing his demand for papers, dealt effectively with several personal points raised by Lord Midleton's speech, and rallied Lord Morley with having ratified and condoned the "great dereliction "—viz., impairing the supremacy of the civil power—which he had so vigorously denounced in 1905. For the rest, he associated himself with the political argument of Lord Cromer.
Previous page
