Apr, 30, Political leaders in Indi seem determined to do their best to strengthen the hands of Lord Irwin's critics. The news which has been forthcoming from that country during the last few weeks has suggested a thanked deterioration in the situation. Revolutionary activ= ities in Bengal have led to unpleasant incidents, of which the incursion into Chittagong of armed desperadoes has been the most startling, In the north, where conditions usually do not encourage the Indian National Congress adventurer, there has been " specially ugly outbreak and the latest telegrams show that a most distinguished batta-Tion of the Indian Army has to be subjected to dis treatment. Long dis: turbed Bombay is still restive and the Government have had to take the precaution of ember ing a section of the Railway Auxiliary Force, probably ensure the smooth running of the railway systems with headquarters in. that Presidency. Meanwhile Mr, Gandhi's myehadvertised saline extravaganza continues to absorb the attention of the police in the districts. through which he is marching with his handful of enthusiasts. There have been resignations from the Central Legislature, the most notable of them being that of Mr. Patel, the elected successor to Sir Frederick Whyte in the Chair of the Legislative Assembly. Mr. Patel's performances as President during the last eighteen months have consistently drawn him into the limelight. He has been ingenious in trading on the Government's forbearan: but not ingenious enough to remove the impression that in rat elected President the have had an assid ous twelfth man, Now he evidently feels that the time has come to put an end to a sorry farce. The Government may be congratulated, for the rope which they have given to Mr. Patel has been long enough to entangle them in serious difficulties with their more consistent displayed such recklessness in their conduct of religious controversy that—actually at the urgent request of the politicians—strong legislative action has been taken to penalize news papers guilty of deliberately arousing communal _animosit; Now, finding the ordinary law insufficient, the Government have had to resume the powers which they formerly possessed for taking security from the publishers of newspapers and for confiscating presses in the ultimate resort.
Yet too much emphasis can be laid on all this, Just as the revolutionary nievement, with its attraction for the student class, is far more important and menacing than the ineffective divagations of Mr. Gandhi, 39 the outbreak of violence in various centres—distressing though it may be—tis of far less moment than the séradual development, under Lord Irwin's guidance, of the arrangements for the London Conference. The Viceroy may have to regret the withdrawal from ce-operation with him of a certain number of—Indian politicians whose assistance might have been valuable. Hi probably did not expect to the extremists of the National Congress into the fold of sanity. He has now lost a few others who evidently were keeping their feet in both camps. And the extremists, by reviving the campaign of violence, have} forced the Government to assert themselves in a manner is traditionally distasteful to the political mind. It may be doubted, however, whether, in the long run, this will be disadvantageous to the Viceroy. Before long the publication of the report of the Indian Statutory Commission will advise Parl ment of the views of its accredited judges on the constitutional future of India. The London Conference will be charged with the solemn duty of weighing up those views and in coming to conclusions. It will be well therefore if the men en: gaged in that task are from any embarrassing poli entanglements. They will be called upon to deal, not with the fantasies of a pseudo-dictator, clothed in the _unsubstantial supporters.
It ix useless to pretend that the situation is calculated cheer either Lord Irwin or Mr. "Wedgwood Benn, The mere fact that the Viceroy has had to follow in the footsteps of Lord Heading and place Bengal under the special Ordinance for grappling with the sinister con-spiracles of the revolutionary terrorist shows that both Simla and Whitehall are messed by the gravity of the present trend of events. If that were not enough, the revival of the Press Act would conclusively measure the Government's sense of the stie action. The jon of that Act was one} of the first fruits of the Mon-taku-Chelmsford Constitution. Tr was hailed as an earnest of mit the voice of the intelligentsia to exercise its proper influence over the bureaucracy. The argument was that it would encourage the Press to shake off garb of a mythical sanctity, but with the facts of a _politi¢al structure, wonderfully and courage ously erected, of a great with the energy ordered administration.
They will have to vindicate the of India to walk in the path sat out for her by the Parliament of Great Britain. They will have to make sure that the comradeship of British and Indians in bringing the ideal of the Indian nation within the range of practical politics is not betrayed. In that work men of judgment and responsibility alone can take a share. Revol tionaries, visionaries, and their sympathisers are obviously unsuitable for such an enterprise. The present anxiety gives both India and land an ample opportunity for assessing values and, so, for arriving at a just appreciation of the representatives of which the Conference should be composed.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.