Lady Stephenson, is now visiting China eu his way home after relin-Jquishing the Governorship of Burma, fs a distinguished officer of the In-@ian Civil Service. Appointed 1895, Sir Hugh was posted to Bengal and quickly made his mark in the Secretariat. He was a men.ber of the Southborough Reform Commit-fee which worked out the details of the franchise under the Montague-Chelmsford constitution and he rose fo the Membership of the Governor's Executive Council (Cabine:). in 1922, Subsequently he acted as Governor of Bengal on two occasions during the absence of the Bar! of Lytton and Sir Stanley Jackson on leave in 1926 and 1930 respectively and he governed Bihar and Orissa {rom 1027 10 1932. He then was on the point of retirement, but was paid the exceptional con: pliment of being invited to go to Burma in December 1932.10 Succeed Sir Charles Innes, He har voluntarily cut short his five-year tenure in order that his successor, Sir Archibald Cochrane, may have the opportunity of becoming aequainted with the conditions of the country for an appreciable time before the Inauguration of the new regiment under which Rurma will have-en entity separate from India. Aman jot considerable force of character and breadth of vision, Sir Hugh has Tendered fine service to India and the Empire and he left Burma last month amid remarkable demonstrations of affection and esteem.
However turbulent may have been the Japanese Diet session which ended on May 27, under the impetus of a desire for' greater expression of popular opinion since the February military revolt it has been one the most interesting sessions in the constitutional history of the country. Forty-five of the 46 bills introduced by the Government were approved but with such modifications as to render some. merely temporary measures likely to be abandoned by the time the Diet meets again December. Among these is the bill for the control of subversive literature, which was the target of parliamentary attack and of. newspaper criticism because in it were seen further efforts to curb freedom of speech, and, of course, freedom of the press. 'As such the bill was assed with important-modifteations which will tend to deprive it of the harsher provisions originally proposed. One Minseito speaker, ata special committee meeting' of the House of Representatives, "boldly expressed the view that the increased ood of what the Government termed subversive literature was. largely attributable to the excessive rigour of the Government's control of the press. In reply, Mr, Ushio, the Home Minister. expressed complete agreement with this statement but he pleaded that the present situation prevented absolute' freedom. Me
control of Dress would fave the promise, however, that alleviated as far "as pesable and although messages from' Tokyo do Rot indicate the exact nature of the modifications whereon' the Diet assed the bill it fs believed that the measure was amended to apply Jonly to literature designed to under mine military discipline—a" matter fon which there has been general Jagreement since the February' affair,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.