Lord Curzon evidently does not believe that silence is golden.
The new Viceroy of India takes every opportunity of speaking in public, and like the Emperor William II. or any other absolute Sovereign, is sure always, at all events, of an interested audience. In a speech on the Indian Budget delivered on Monday, he told the Legislative Council that the Government were on the eve of effecting changes in Indian finance, and that although he did not quite know their character, which must be settled in England, they must be " momentous." That, however, was only one of twelve im- portant questions, all of which were awaiting solution, all of which ought to have been solved long ago, and to all of which he proposed to address himself. Such speeches, of course, break up the monotony of Indian life, and may perhaps act on the Services as a stimulus to thought, but the wiser men in the Empire will doubt whether they will not inspire more unrest than confidence. India, ought to be governed as a Church is governed, with a conviction that while all details can be improved, its foundations are beyond discussion. Lord Curzon should remember also that he is the bead of an absolute Government, and that to interest one's subjects greatly is to invite them to dissent as well as to acquiesce. Empires like India are not governed by well-chosen words.
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