The debate on the Council of India Bill was resumed
on Tuesday by Lord Ampthill, who supported the rejection on the ground that it would not seriously displease anybody, least of all the organs of Indian opinion. Lord Morley, whose speech was more vigorous than convincing, met the demand for the views of the Government of India by stating that the Government of India was not directly or indirectly concerned in a Bill for regulating the con- stitution, business, and procedure of the Secretary of State at Whitehall. He retorted the charge of aiming at arbitrary power on Lord Curzon, who at once repudiated the insinuation, observing that he bad never overruled his.Council on a single occasion, while Lord Morley had been notoriously one of the greatest, though no doubt the most enlightened, despots that the India Office had ever known. Lord Morley declared in conclusion that the rejection of the Bill would be certainly a grave blunder, if not a disaster.
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