“To India this is a very crucial period. The time has come when her matters must be set right, with the help of the ablest master-mind available. A thousand of her questions, each of which is very imminent, have been postponed with the expectation of a time when the British Government may have leisure to consider them. When this leisure will come is not certain … what then is the remedy? To us a more independence in the matter of Government, whenever that day may come when the people may be fit for it seems to be the only remedy”.
SEPTEMBER, 2, 1881
Parliamentary Government and India
INDIA IS A FOOTBALL BETWEEN THE TWO POLITICAL FACTIONS of England; without enjoying any of the advantages of party government, she is subject to all its disadvantages. She has no voice in the election of the members of parliament, and the motives, therefore of English statesmen in administering the affairs of India are simply those of justice and humanity. England is not bound to us by the ties of a common nationality or a common religion; on the other hand too many of those whom she deputes to exercise her immediate power over us are actuated by the strong impulses of an assumed superiority in civilisation and morals. The great body of the English public have no idea of this their most important dependency; nor do they care to inform themselves of its affairs and interests. Their own constitute a world of anxiety to them and they are content to leave alone the questions relating to other countries. In the midst of the responsibilities which the vast Empire of Britain with her numerous colonies imposes on her statesmen, the attention that these statesmen can spare for India is comparatively nil. The British Empire is simply colossal; it includes the whole island continent of Australia, South Africa, Canada, and others of various sizes, amounting in all to more than forty in number. The Colonial Under-Secretary, Mr. Grant Duff, gave a very striking description of the magnitude of these colonies, in his recent speech to his constituents, an extract from which we published in our last issue. Each of these colonies is in itself sufficient in extent and importance, to tax the whole energy of the ablest statesmen. These colonies are every day increasing in importance. England cannot do without them. With an area equal to a few Indian districts put together and with a population of 40 millions increasing in wealth every year, colonies form the very life of the English nation. They are a manufacturing people, having hardly any rural population. They indeed once had a noble peasantry of which England was justly proud. But her old peasantry has been either sent away to foreign colonies or has been superseded by machines, and even the remaining agricultural population shows a tendency to diminish rapidly. Large estates absorb small ones, and the villages are becoming cities. England in fact is now a country of cities, each of which is an important manufacturing centre. This absence of a considerable population having interest in land is a great source of weakness to that country. The industrial population, too, is not in a flourishing condition; they lead a miserable life. The poor law is becoming more and more important as it is availed of more and more by the poor. This poor law is at the same time a blessing to the destitute and the lazy, and a curse to the more honourable portion of the low-class. Those who disdain to throw themselves on the support of the world’s charity and resolve to maintain maintain themselves on the strength of their own hands, are taxed to support the less prudent and the less industrious. Wages are unsteady and strikes and trade unions are, therefore, more and more resorted to. The contest between labour and property is thus becoming harder every day. The sympathy of the ruling class does not seem to be much towards those helpless people. The imperialists desire to establish the prestige of their country abroad, while misery and poverty are stalking beneath their guilded carriages. Meanwhile the industrial hands are replaced by machinery, and the cotton bales of Lancashire are increasing in gigantic proportions. Thus both the decreasing room for manual labour and the increasing manufactures by machinery render the colonies more and more important to England. Commercial interests form the most important feature in the foreign policy of English ministers. Parliament, which is the representative of the wealthy of the country, necessarily becomes more and more exclusive. So vast an area of colonial Empire, bound to the mother country by such essential interests, taxes fully the attention of the imperial Government. The independence accorded to the local Governments of these colonies enables them to resent any injustice from the imperial Government. The colonies and the mother country are thus bound by mutual obligations. India is in no such position. She can be used in any way the imperial Government may like; her industries may be suppressed in the interests of those of England; her exchequer may be appropriated for the party purposes of English politicians. Her mouth can be gagged. In fact she and her millions may be treated like blocks having no feelings or interests like those of the ruling class. Her complaints are not listened to. The statesmen of England may be actuated by the best motives; but charity begins at home; and sympathy with foreigners must yield to the demands of the kindred. At present England has not even a breath to spare for India. Ireland is poking her in her side and she is divided between embarrassment and rage. The South African colonies form another source of anxiety to the statesman of England. Yet to India this is a very critical period. The time has come when her matters must be set right, with the help of the ablest master-mind available. A thousand of her questions, each of which is very imminent, have been postponed with the expectation of a time when the British Government may have leisure to consider them. When this leisure will come is not certain. If the Irish difficulty is solved in some way, another difficulty may arise. In an empire of such gigantic dimensions, there will be always imminent questions demanding all the available statesmanship of the country. And India is set down as the last among the British possessions in the order of their claims on the attention of the imperial Government. It will be indeed a glorious day for India when statesmen like Mr. Gladstone undertake to solve Indian questions. But the day seems to be ever receding. Many of these Indian questions have been in a state of postponement for the last thirty years and more, and there does not seem to be any prospect of the period of postponement coming to an end. What then is the remedy? To us a more independence in the matter of Government, whenever that day may come when the people may be fit for it, seems to be the only remedy.
Reference:
The First 100
A Selection of Editorials, 1878-1978, THE HINDU, VOLUME I