In fine the Minority want an entirely new Constitution which
would set up provincial autonomy but would reserve control in a certain number of necessary matters to the Central Government. It is not to be expected that the British Government will discard the Montagu-Chelms- ford experiment without a further trial. But we-may say here that We ha* no such fears as are expressed by some people of complete provincial autonomy if the Pax Britannica, which is essential not only to the safety of India but to the personal safety and well-being of the various peoples and creeds, were provided for without any ambiguity by reserving to the Central Authority certain supreme powers. These supreme powers would be over armed forces, including the police, the railways, the Post Office and so on. There is nothing new in such a scheme which may prove to be the only way out of the premature attempt to give India self-Government. A scheme of this sort was drawn up by Mountstuart Elphinstone a hundred years ago. * * * *
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