Calcutta, Oct. 17.
In my last letter I wrote of the! celebrations in connexion with Mr. Gandhi's birthday and the great personal popularity which he_ still enjoys. Despite this, however, there is no doubt that Mr. Gand) tical influence is on the wane and that the policy of non-ce-operation Proved a complete failure.
The late Mr. C. R. Das before his death had already begun to recognize this and when approaching the end was exerting his influence _as one of the leaders of the Swarajist Party in the direction of a change of policy. Indeed, a modification of the old policy has already begun, although it is evident that the struggle between the extremists und the moderates is by no means over. Meanwhile, certain incidents have occurred which indicate that unless the moderates win the day] the Party is in grave danger of disintegration. A few weeks back, for instance, a prominent member of the Party, Dr. Suhravardy, resigned- membership on tire ground that he could not submit to the tyre army of the party discipline which obliged him to cease having relations with many European friends. This has been followed by the action of a certain Mr. Tombe, who has created a great scandal in the party by the acceptance of the post of Executive Councillor. Mr. Tombe, who had not formally reied membership before accepting} the post, rather weakly explains that. he acted in his individual capacity and not as a member of the Swaraj Party nor in pursuance of the party's policy. His a has jeansed consternation and anger amongst the Swarajists. Pundit Motilal Mohro, one of the principal leaders, has condemned the culprit roundly for accepting. a position within the gift, of the Government whilst others who have expressed opinions are clearly uneasy, though they attempt to minimize the significante, of the incident. A. new!
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.