Aug, 1 The resumption of the Indian Conference in London promi to be staged without Mr. Gandhi and his Congress friends. If the space accorded to the Mahatma, by tue Press of three continents. were any guide this would be, tantamount to omitting the: Prince of Denmark from a performance of Hamlet. In point of brutal fact it is nothing of the kind, Even if he were to go to London after all Mr. Gandhi could only speak for the Indian Congress and that body, as the months go by, seems determined to prove its ingrained incapacity for representing anything' but the irresponsibility of, Indian politicians. The latest! messages giving more oracular comments from his tongue show. that he is disposed to accept the deprivation of a trip to Londgn with equanimity. The truth of the matter is that he would be quite out of place in a gathering of men charged with the duty of thrashing out serious and practical political problems on the basis of reason, compro: ise and actuality. His assum tion of the role of the mystical sage demands a constant inspiration from the incense of surrounding admirers, His habit Of meeting rejections of his demands by' threatening withdraw al from conference or the initi tion of mass civil disobedience would be seriously out of place in Westminster. It would not impress even the policemen on: duty. But there is little doubt that his present intentions are by no means benevolent, During the past six months he has given the Government the impression that he has been keeping the extremists of hi flagrant breaches of the Delhi ge Jenfeney for pact. Now, with characterist effrontery which he has found by past experience to pay only @uowsest inst tne breaches have 00 "well, he attempting to
been entirely or mainly on the side of the Government, It is not necessary to recall his own confessions of. wrongdoing. They were thrown out only to Prepare the world to endorse his eventual claim that the Conference had the right to regard the pact as at an end. The pronouncement just made by him at Bombay shows yet another move to that position, "The early resumption of civil disobedience may therefore be expected. The probability is however that the Government will not be disposed to permit it to gain another lease of life, in view of the re-
'Moslems' and the cial position, rious finan Turning to the coming activ ties of Indians in London, it difficult to see exactly what d finite progress can be made with the working out in detail of the proposals tentatively put forward last year. The Conference {snot called upon to draft a new Constitution. That will be the duty of the British Government and it will be for parliament to Aecide the measure of advanc to be granted to India, It maj be assumed however that if the Congress can come unanimously to a conclusion on the: broad Hines which the mew Constitution should take, the draft ultimately to be' submitted to Parliament is likely to correspond, very closely therewith, The new Constitution, which some expect with an optimism unjustified by the facts, to come into force in 1983, must' have tHe cooperation of the majority of the people of India, "Ifa new civil disobedience movement were successfully launched, this requirement would be difficult to establish immediately. 'The fact: however, that the Conference is sitting'in London, that the people are tired of the havoc wrought by Congress mischief, leading-as it has done to acute'
ymmunal dissension, and that Gandhi will have completely'
posed his unreason to the world, suggest the ability of the Government.to obtain general! Support for swift measures of correction. It must however be realized that the economic difficulties of the moment are accentrating agrarian unrest. Landlords in certain parts of India, especially in the Usited Provinces, are not angels of light. "The Government ha done much to remedy the grief vanees of tenants by inducing the Legislature to pass remedial 'Tenancy Acts in the teeth of the landowners' opposition, but there are still grounds for justifiable resentment. of which, in times of economic stringency, Mr. Gandhi and his associates are ready to take full advantage.
This also applies to the threat of non-payment of revenue in Gujerat, where Mr. Vallabhai Patel is a veteran inciter of strife, The broad issue as between Mr. Gandhi and the British Government can be readily crystallized. Lord Willingdon achieves that feat in his despatch rejecting Mr. Gandhi's demands for an inquiry into the alleged breaches of the Delhi Pact. After all the discussions between the representatives of the Congress and the Government and the extreme forbearance which has inspired the Government to make provision for Congress participation in t Round Table Conference, the Mahatma throws his hand in at, the last moment, simply because he alleges that, on certain points of detail, the Pact has not been kept, That reading of the situation" "assumes—unwarranted though the assumption undoubtedly is—that he is correct in his interpretation of Government action, The plain truth is that Mr, Gandhi does not want to test the possibilities of the Conference. They would expose his own weakness too vividly. His! occupation as a Mahatma would be gone. The recent debate in the House of Commons showed on the part of, sincere sym-_ claim for vernment, great though the practical difficulties are in the way of meet~ ing that claim with an immediate factory to 8. The com. minal issue remains the great stumbling block, Fortunately the British nation has learnt, in the last twelve months, pay closer attention to Modern doubts. Hindu delegates pos sessed of any sense of res ponsibility must realise too that they cannot obstinately harp on the string of joint electorates in the face of the exposure vouchsafed at Cawnpore and elsewhere. The best that can happen is that a spirit of greater, modesty and, more determined moderation may be infused into all parties, so that some form of practical agreement may be reached, whether the Congress exquisites grace the ceremony with their presence or not.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.