The Indian Congress at Surat broke up in disorder on
Friday week. Dr. Rash Behari Ghose, a Bengalee Moderate, having been nominated as President, the Extremists stormed the platform and wrecked the Congress. The Moderates have since held a Convention, in which Mr. Lajpat Rai announced his secession from the Extremists and supported the election of Dr. Ghose, ai:d a committee was formed to reconstitute the Congress on its original lines for the ultimate attainment of colonial self-government by Constitutional means. Dr. (Those and Sir Phirozshah Mehta both welcome the split on the ground that it was impossible to work on the same platform with the Extremists. On the other hand, the Extremists held a separate meeting at which Mr. Tilak advocated a more advanced policy and charged the Moderates with dragging back the Congress to please the Government. He hoped, however, that the split, which was ruinous to both parties, would only be temporary, and that unity would be soon restored. Meantime the majority of the delegates have left Surat, and according to present arrangements it seems likely that two separate Congresses will be held in 1908. Support is lent to this forecast by the fact that the Moderates, who claim two-thirds of the delegates, make no secret of their hope that the elimination of the Extremists will induce the Government to extend its help and active patronage to the reconstituted Congress.
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