GREAT BRITAIN AND INDIA [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—The failure of the peace parleys initiated by Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru and Mr. Jayakar has shattered the last hopes of a really representative conference next autumn. If the British Government proposes to proceed with the Conference it should do so, and risk failure or win glory for itself on its own responsibility.
The temptation, however, would be to add to the con- ference all the elements that bring to it weight, influence, and prestige. It is conceivable that the Government may arrange for the Conference to be opened by H.M. the King. If the Conference met in happier circumstances this would be most apt and welcome.
It would be most unwise and a regrettable blunder to involve the Crown in any move where it would by the fact of its association with such a move become the subject of acute hostility from India. A few years ago Lord Reading made a mistake in similar circumstances, and precipitated the boycott of the visit of the Prince of Wales.
By implicating the Crown in the troubles of the present the prospects of the future are not made brighter. The Crown may succeed where politicians have failed, but the essence of the unique position of the Crown is its detachment from political complications.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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