The " Round Table"
THE most interesting article in the Round Table deals with " Indian Reforms : The Princes' Standpoint." More than one-third of the area of India is not directly under British rule—some seventy-two million people owe allegiance to their own rulers, who are, of course, bound themselves by ties of obligation to His Majesty's Government. The most important of these States maintain their own armies and most of them support a heavy financial burden as their share of the defence of the Empire. The rule of these Princes is popular with their subjects, who get quicker and more dramatic justice than they could get in British India. In these States the standard of literacy is high and the adoption of Western medical and sanitary methods general. The Indian Princes, however, hate the class of educated native who in British India appears to them to be cajoling and bullying the British Government. In short, they distrust popular rule—and not without reason. " An authoritative inquiry into the present position and future place of the States in the Indian polity is urgently needed," for to offend these staunch friends and able administrators would be dangerous to ourselves and against the best interests of India. " China Through the Ages " gives an outline of Chinese history, the writer maintaining that the most illuminating analogy to the present state of China must be found in her own past.
Previous page
