MR. MORLEY.
THOUGH the general public were inclined to think that Mr. Morley's appointment to the India Office was an experiment, close observers of our political life never doubted his competency to manage the affairs of the Indian Empire, even at so critical a period, as that during which he assumed office. They relied upon three things which, save for some accident such as may upset all human calculations, are certain to bring success in administration. They knew Mr. Morley to have steadfastness of character, a strong sense of public duty, and political courage,—that is, the courage to face a disagreeable political situation with calmness, and, if necessary, to disillusion men in regard to facts upon which they greatly dislike being disillusioned. But though these are the essentials of successful statesmanship under a democracy, Mr. Morley brought to his task qualities of head only less valuable than the moral characteristics which we have just described. We should be the last to put intellect on a level with character, but for work like that of the governing of India it cannot be doubted that a large and well-stored mind, capable of 'understanding and appreciating the relative importance of political problems and of bringing to their elucidation the experi- ence of former ages and other countries, is of immense value. The vast size of India, the stupendous extent of its population and area, and the appalling complexity produced by the varying races, creeds, languages, and different stages of civilisation to be found among its peoples, are calculated to overwhelm a mind which is not both powerful in itself and braced to intellectual effort by years of thought and study. The person of merely average intelligence might well be excused for shrinking before the questions addressed to him by the Indian sphinx. Only a man who is accustomed to deep thought and careful thought on great issues can remain undaunted and unbewildered by the Indian question at moments of unrest and uncertainty. If Mr. Morley has not been frightened or perplexed at finding himself involved in the labyrinth, it is due in no small degree to the fact that he has all his life accustomed his mind to dwell upon the science of government, and has schooled himself in the lessons of history.
In another matter connected with India Mr. Morley's mental fortitude and mental training have been of the utmost help. One of the difficulties before the Secretary of State for India is that he has to face the perplexities of rule in isolation, and without that daily help which the politician dealing with home affairs can get from his colleagues, or an absorb, as it were, from the political atmosphere around him. In home matters the general trend of public opinion, or, at any rate, of the opinion of the wiser minds in the nation, is of enormous help to the statesman. It will enable a fairly cautious, if not specially able, man to pick his way with safety. No such help is forth- coming for the Secretary of State for India. It is true that he is well provided with expert advice ; but though that advice is often of immense use to him in detail, it cannot, by its nature, assist him much in his final decisions on matters of principle. Here he must for the most part act alone. The minds of his colleagues are turned away from India and things Oriental, and it can very rarely happen that they are willing or able to take the responsibility of giving advice. Even those who have been Viceroys or Secretaries of State have in all probability lost touch with India. In the same way, little help is to be got from what we have called above the general trend of public opinion. That is a stream which does not flow into the Indian channel. Public opinion here is quick enough, no doubt, to judge a mistake when it is made, but it gives no warning before the event is accomplished. Here, again, the man accustomed to face intellectual problems, and not to be frightened, as are so many men, by the task of thinking a matter out to the very end, is at an advantage. The necessity of moving along an untrodden path and alone does not appal him. He carries his compass in a mind well filled and trained to arrive at conclusions through its own efforts. But though Mr. Morley was known by his friends and those who had watched his career to possess not only the character but the intellectual equipment requisite to make him a wise and safe ruler for India, it is a matter of supreme satisfac- tion to know that he has actually done and is doing what we all expected him to do. There is always a risk with statesmen of some unperceived defect appearing to upset one's calculations. Only by trial can one be sure that there is no secret flaw in the metal.
Though the chief credit of Mr. Morley's successful handling of Indian problems is no doubt due to him, we must not forget—and here we are sure that Mr. Morley will agree with us—to make acknowledgment of the way in which he has received the support and confidence of the House of Commons. The present Parliament is an honest Parliament, but it is also a Parliament which contains many rash and dangerous elements. The great majority of the majority—and they are the men who rule us—is composed of persons whose views about some of the most difficult problems of government are marked by an ignorant and heedless optimism which bodes ill for sound administration. They are inclined to trust far too much to words and phrases, and to imagine, also, that certain abstract principles to which they tender a slavish loyalty may be applied at all times, in all places, and to all persons. There was nothing, therefore, un- reasonable in feeling a great deal of doubt and anxiety lest the new Parliament should insist on things being done in India which might have the most disastrous results. Happily, these forebodings have proved unwar- ranted. In spite of the incitements of visionaries, faddists, and alleged experts upon matters of Indian government, the majority of the majority have wisely determined to trust to Mr. Morley rather than to the strident little group who, professing to know about India from inside, have urged upon the Liberal Party the duty of applying democratic principles wholesale to our Asian Empire. In spite of so much temptation to foolish action, they have not yielded. The appeal, "Don't lose faith in Liberal ideas, but apply them fearlessly to India and. help the dusky millions in their struggle towards the light," has been ignored. The British Liberal, even when he seems most inflated with Jacobin principles and windy political abstractions, is seldom at heart a Jacobin, but keeps always a reserve of British common-sense.
Cromwell in one of his speeches talks of our being Englishmen, and of all that signifies. No better example of his meaning can be found than the manner in which the present House of Commons have trusted Mr. Morley and given him a free hand, although he has had to ask them to act contrary to their dearest prepossessions in such matters as the opium traffic with China, and to their belief that whether a man is black or white, Christian, Mohammedan, or Hindu, he must be the better for a vote and for the right to attack by voice and pen to the fullest possible extent the Government under which he lives. For ourselves, we have never believed the notion that the British democracy would prove incapable of ruling an Empire, however true such a proposition may be of other democracies, and we think we have a right to point to the action of the present Parliament as regards India as a proof of the truth of our contention. There have been hints, no doubt, of intrigues amongst the extremists in order to get rid of Mr. Morley, but we see no sign that they have had any success in the House of Commons or the country. On the contrary, we believe that Mr. Morley occupies an unshaken position to-day in the Liberal Party. Courage, firmness, and. straightforwardness have once more had their reward. Just as his splendid stand against Socialism some seven or eight years back did not weaken but rather strengthened him, to the amazement of the politicians who imagine that popularity with the people is to be gained by fawning upon them, so now Mr. Morley's attitude in regard. to the government of India has gained him, net hostility, but support among the majority of Radicals. People always forget that the Englishman, however extreme his views, is essentially a teachable person. He will not allow himself to be ridden down or talked dowri or browbeaten, but if those who oppose him will take the trouble to teach him rather than threaten him, and to claim the right to hold their own opinions even when those opinions are most un- popular, he is curiously quick to learn. Nothing, indeed, attracts him more to a politician than to hear it said of that politician : "He sticks to his own view even when it is most opposed." Mr. Morley does this, but he does it with courtesy and good temper, and with a full measure of the sympathy of comprehension. He could not bully an opponent or treat him with arrogance or contempt, how- ever much he disliked his views. There is the secret of Mr. Morley's success.
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