THE GOVERNMENT .. OF INDIA J. RAMSAY MACDONALD LONDON THE SWARTHMORE PRESS, LTD. ll•'OHMEHJ Y TRADING AS HJ>:ADLBY BHOS. l'C'flLlBHER<:, LTD,) 72 OXFORD STREET, W.l 25976' !""" 1 JAN 1~£:9 \, PHEFACE :rrns book \Yas writteu in all its sn bstantial parLo fwf, 11< i iw Government took stt>ps to meet the conditions which th<· war had. ereated in India. I veutnre to publi~h 11. ];,,v z '.'er beeausl' it indic-ates a. different point of view from l f;;d ,, Lit i; appears to be a,nimating tiH Ct•V1'l'ntw·ni. l ltotl_t:L 'JIH resped:c. thci r pril c·t1eal proposals do not mn ter.mti.} . ;,~ ~: · i'' ; ; mine, bnt abo-- and this is thl· chic·f !'(•a>vide sweep. This spirit ·will have to be maintained after the Montagn-Chelmsfunl Report ha:,; produced it:': first harvest of legislation. l must acknowledge with gratitude the a.sRistunce 1 have had from some of the worthiest men who maintain our best tt~:adition:::: in tlw Government of India. Much of what is in this hook,~s theirs, and in writing it I have always kept their problems and their trials in mind. The effect of the war upon publishing is responsible for a long delay in the appear-· ance of the book. J. R.utsxl' l\V.cDoNALD. j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j viii CONTENTS CHAPTER VII PAOli: PROVINCIAL GoVERNMENTS (continued) : II-LEGIS- -. LATURES CHAPTER VIII THE INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE CHAPTER IX CHAPTER X FINANCIAL PoLICY: I-TARIFFS CHAPTEit XI 88 • 95 114 FINANCIAL PoLICY (continucfl): II-TILE LAND TAX . .1 :l5 CHAPTER XII FlNAl'iCIAL PoLICY (continued): lli-ExrENDITURE 145 CHAPTER XIII EDUCATION CHAPTER XIV THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE CHAl'TER XV lNDIA AND THE EMPIRE 159 192 213 CONTENT8 CHAPTER XVI THE PRESS CHAPTElt XV ll f~mu<:!w;.; A:'NJJ NATIONALISM CHAPTER XVIII APPENDIXES I. TnE PEOPLE uF INDIA Hl. ftlL INDEX PAGT~ '" ~ [ ' • THE OF INTRODUCTORY THJ1J RISE OF NATIONALISM Prrnuc r•pininn in thif3 country i::.: like a sen upoE wld,.f, tlw bn rrplf"" .,f I ;,,., ·l'!lllkll 1:: fln:li ill r l 'di;, j t i:- like 'I tTI.i heating r.gaiH:ot '' coast, being rcbuiied here ;;ml eat.ing iii ite way tl1ere. Hen·, pu hlic opinion toudlPH nnd cman<>tes from tho whole people, its sections repn.·se11t conflicts in vin\ s of national Hld>", :md it is responsible: in lndir .. (,pini with hi;; friend:o. Taradumd Chakravartti and Clw.ndw Siklwr Deb. tl1e ia.tter. 111 course of conversu t.ion .. said ! i, him f),_,,,,_,lljtT. ne liuw f2_U lu a hulltk uf 1\Uf:-illij.> \\ hLl<·· ,, huvJ)!.ll\! d'ficiate". Shuuld Wt' uut. LaYv n plih·c when· \\<.' might. lmct>t and w~r:ollip"(iod in our own way'!''' 1 'l'hat impulse of "uur own \\ay .. 11as the assertion of the quickening Indian nation­ a:lism asserting itself through \Vestern influences, anJ this was by and by to find still more complete and ::,atisfactory expression in politic::;. The newspaper was freed in 1835, and the group of young Indians \vho had been fighting for religious and social reform began to think of an indian press. Political fights wni1 the Go':ernment had hitherto been carried on by Europeans­ again corumonly by missionaries, Ueorge Thomson, the ~nti­ slavery orator, came to India in ll-\42 with Dwa1·kanath 'fagore--the father of the poet--and delivered political addresses which stirred young and emancipated (;alcutta, and two years later the pilgrimage of youths from India to re<:eive education in England began. Criticism of the Govern­ ment continued through the press, at meetings, and by asso­ ciations like the Bombay Association, started in 1848. Some of these associations collapsed in time, but left behind them the soil from which successors sprang up. Lord Lytton's tenure of office ( J 876-80) was attended by continued pro­ tests and attacks from vocal Indian opinion (when men like Telang came to the fore as antagonists of the Government); Lord Ripon's (1880-84) by equally vocal support (the Ilbert Bill letting loose a flood which brought political agitation in India to its highest level). Political currents were then running strong, especially in the centres of Madras, Calcutta, and Bombay. But the movement was not organised. In 1883 the Indian Association of Calcutta called a National Conference at which representatives from Bengal, Madras, 1 Ramtanu Lahiri, p. 77. 4- THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA Bombay, and the United Provinces were present. That year a circular was addrcsscll to the students of Calcutta by Mr. Allan Octavian Hume, ar:;king t,hcm to devote themselves to India, anll as a ru~mlt the Tndian Nutiona.l Union was formed; and in 1884 a, few gentlemen wlw had been attending a Conference held in Adyar, Madras, hy the Theor:;ophical Society, met and formed certain Provincial cornmitt~es fur the purpose of calling without delay n conference of the Indian National Union. Thi:; met in Bombay iu December 1885-Poona, where it was to lmve met, luwing been visited by the plague-under the title of the Indian National Congress. Since then it has met eaeh year at Chri:;tmas in one or other of the larger towns throughout India,, and has been attended hy Home thousand delegates, appointed in a somewhat loose way by Provincial UommittceK. Since 1889 it has haP. a Committee in London which it finances and wl1ich publishes the· weekly journal Ind,ia. 'l'hus India became politically articulate. The resolutions passed from year to year at tlliH Congress arc the beHt indieatiom; of what interest::; arc stirring in Uw mimi of Ind.ia. Tho first passed at the first Congres:-; ealled fur the appointment of a Jtuyal Commi::;sion to enquire into the working of the Indian adminiHtration ; the second, for the abolitiou of the Secretary of State's Council ns being '' the neee::;sary preliminary to a,Jl other reformr:; " ; the third demanded an expan::;ion of Legblative Councils ; the fourth formula t,ed the hi:;torieal claim for simultaneous examina­ tions ; the fifth protested again:::;t the increasing military expenditure and asked Great Britain to guarantee the Indian debt; the sixth declared that Upper Burma ought not to be added to India, but be made a Crown Colony; the eighth referred the resolutions passed to the Provincial political n.~:Vf'lnent. would . .,tand. t•J !l.· a. 'ons'tdtativn :-<:-wmhJy which was !n IJ1 j,: , •, • • \Yhich gri(·vancc:" Wt"l'C to run to (k•vPr:rm:c!d uffices. !l it was tn be r•oJwh·nanced. But it might he an O!Jl,.,Sii inJ. speaking tmduubtcdly so that the (i,.vcn•lN'Tll ',,u]d a•. but " il:d, nt politknl nrgnn P[ lt:c:iHJ ,,pini.r"' .In that case, Ua ;nvcndlwnt \U•l!ld. ~••P!i<:r •11· i:il('r. l i The matter was soon settled. It became an Uppvatlwn inevitable development. \,Yhcn .:\lr. Hm111· :,;:.tw Lord Dnfferin nt f:limht ;m;l •:O<>i<'• • .t \vith hii<• tL· pll•jcut tn hring togdhcr every y(•nr d1( k:'.dCJ.' • ·f lntliau, I . ii>• H,, .. :•fTnir:c, Lll1d lJu:ffcrl.n n·m> ~lr i ·~~-··-..iJ.:·d ;_"' \1"'-t:-dtil-.. h 'd .. ~~;.~ . It•.·:1 ;! j., ··\i ;, East ;;I-:ught and cnlturc, and that lslnmism might bPeome lihera]i;,;ed by that contaet. In !1"17o he :-:ct alJout. the c,;tablislmtPnt of a paper which di,tur1wd dw (·on,.:crTrttive equ" Hi!!(lu p;lpNH hnd .;(,ilTPd HinduiC'm tbirty"or forty .>car,- bd~·rc. Tb u,; t" .,u:l L'Xtt'll t he kd lu:-. p<·npk ••n t bt· path which Rajn Rammohnn Roy had led hiR. But he did not go so far His work gradually matured until the foun­ dation-,;tone of Alighur was laid in 1877. Sir Syed had no English erlucation. but it was ;vhilst hewa:-; in England, study­ ing our English iH~:~LitutionH, that the chnractcrio;tic~; of Alighnr formed in his mind. The reasons for the separate college wen• : (I) There were few Mohammedans in Government schools and colleges. ( :?) Government e1luca !.ion \Vas suspcctc1l of being anti-Mohammedan. ( :~) }lohammcdans desired a separate c~llege. Sir Sycd was no sycophant in his politics, however. In 1866 he took an active part in forming the British Indian Association, \\hieh is rightly regarded as the forerunner of the National Congress, and he appealed to Indians to be more honestly out;,;pokcn as regan!:,; their political grievances and more assiduous in interesting the Imperial Parliament in the affairs of their eountry. He himself was a member of the Legislative Council from 1878 to 1883. There he opposed the election of representatives on Indian public bodies on the ground that minorities in race, creed, and caste would be 10 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA crushed out; but still he felt the catholic nationality of India, and he said in 1884: " We [Hindus and Mohammedansl should try to become one heart and soul, and act in unison. If united, we can support each other .... We must each and all unite for the good of the country which is common to all." Of the Bengalis he wrote about the same time'! "I ~ssure you that Bengalis are the only people in our country whom we can properly be proud of, and it is only due to them that knowledge, liberty, and patriotism have progressed in our country .... In the word Nation I include both Hindus and Mohanunedalll;, because that is the only meaning which I -.. can attach to it." And yet, when the Congress met in 1885, • he was lukewarm. For three years he watched, and then came out in definite opposition. It was "not moderate apd reasonable in its aspirations," nor sufficiently careful about the interests of " minorities, and very far from respectful or fair in its tone" to the Government. It believed too much in the " principles of government borrowed from the West into the East without regard to the safeguards required by the different circumstances " 1 of India. Sir Syed's attitude decided that of the bulk of Mohammedans, tended to widen the gulf between them and the Hindus, and strengthenc(l the position of the conservative elements amongst · them. It also had, for some time, an unfortunate influence on the Government, and not only encouraged it to harden its attitude to the Congress, but to take opportunities to pacify , , Mohammedan leaders and use them against the Hindu leaders. ' If, with Parliamentary thoughts in mind, we speak of the Congress as an Opposition, we may aptly say of the Moham- medan that he took his seat on the benches below the gang­ way on the Government side. Yet this could not abide. It was shortsighted politicB; Sir Syed's great educational work was turning out a young generation of Mohammedans moulded in the same intellec- 1 Statement by Nawab Mushtaque Husain in explanation of Sir Syed'a position. THE RISE OF NATIONALISM tual moulds as the Hindu leaders; and there werP from t.he very beginning I';Ome Mohammedane who did not share Sir 1-;yt-J(r" iater vw11oo t \on~rf•ss. TJw i're~i1lent of the third Cuugn.::-;,, na;; <' lVh;Jwnnnulan, Mr. -sudntdin Tyabji, and he paid some attclltion in his address to the attitude \~ hich the Mohammedans took to the · gathPring. He said: ''I must honestly confess to you that one f!:reat motive whieh has indueed me 111 tht• }Jl'esent state of my health to undertake tht- grave n•spon,;ibilities uf pre­ ::;iding over your deliberations, has been an f'arnest de::>ire on my part to prove, as far as my power lies, that I, at least, not merely in my individual capI lto fPPl:-, hen·~y sprouting in his heart_ :: l'H ., i.,imcd it: . ,rtil<•d•'' < th loud fervour, but it:; drift incvn.abJ;y \laci Umaul"' lhc C Jn 19U, at a public meetmg at Ca\vnpote, the Hou l,J:; : t,l lfaqu< ;i • leading Moliammedan, said : · Tlw An tJ Cuugrcc-" Mu:s:-;ulwun is fast becoming an extinct speeies and will have HJOll it• be searched for in some areh::eological museum." \Vhen a Mohammedan prec:s of cribeal politic:~ a ppHllf'd lib: thv Com.r({(/1 , it found 1' had no pu:ssihk linf' open for it except that upon which the organs uf Hindu :\atiwti,Jers uf the twu m<,vz:nwnt:o~ came together arJJl discussed agreements, with the result that. a common manift•:stn W<\S i.~;:;Hr·d containing llw following points· 1. That 1'ruvinciu1 Lt ·,.u,,i!,: ·-hrmid r·uns"ist- of four-fifths elected and one-fifth nominated wcmbcrt->; that the fmnuhise Rhould lw a::; broad as possible, mid that Mo­ lmmmcdans should be separately del:ted to a fixed propor­ tion of ,eats, that tbt· Pn·1-1ident. :: upon 11 llieh mcmh(·rs 1,f th<> Civil Service ,;hould nut sit., but; half uf which shouhl lw deckd by t.Lc Legi:slativc Council. 3. That fum-fifths of the Imperial Lvgi:ilntive Council ~hould be elected from the t:~ame registers as were used for the Provincial Councils, and that one-third i:ihould be Mo­ lwrnrncda.ns ; that. the President should be dcetcu by the Uouucil itself; that. it ;,;hould have fl'eedunl iu lt~gil-ilation and authority in finance, including powers over tariff;; and com­ mercia,l legislation. 4. That the Governor-General shoulcl be head of the Govern­ ment, ~Lnd should have . The weak handling of Lord Elgm and the masterfnl rult~ of Lord Curzon had, each in its own way, bred extremism among Indian Nationalists. Lord Curzon did not stay long enough in India to feel the blast he was releasing, and which his two :'luccessors had to endure. In the early winter of 1905 a Liberal Government was formed at home, and Mr. (afterwards Lord) Morley became Secretary of State. His appointment put India on expectant tiptoe. " Now," the Congresil leaderR :,;aid, " we shall have our reward." But Mr. Morley found the burden heavy, and however valiant a shoulder he put to it, he could barely move it. The Secretary of State for India is not his own master. The extremists made the most of the opportunities which Mr. Morley's difficulties gave them, and the slow lumbering of the coach enabled them to jeer as Elijah jeered at the false prophets. With renewed vigour they attacked the " mendi­ cant policy" of the Congress. and found heroes and models in the Nihilists, who felt that nothing but the bomb would burst the bonds of the common people of Russia. That, 25976 ... 1 JAN J969 16 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA however, was only a small section of extremists. The other and by far the larger section remained a left wing of the Constitutional movement. It it> always hard to do justic~ to men in the midst of the storms they have raised, and their opponents are rarely chivalrous or just enough to strive to do them justice. In another chapter of this book I describe the recent Hindu reaction, and moBt of the C~nstit~tional extremist.s belonged to that school. They believed in India and did not believe in Europe. They believed in their own civilisation and not in ours. Their ideal was an India sitting on her own throne, mistress of her own destiny, doing homage to her own past. They shook tho Government more than it. has been shaken since the Mutiny. At the Benares meeting in 1905 there was trouble. At Calcutta, in 1906, the Extremists, as they had come to be call!Jd, went. from tho meeting, but the places they left vacant were hard.l"y visible. Ncverthel()SS they represented a great body of young and aggressive opinion. In fact, Lord Curzon's admin­ istration was alienating iu a wholesale way Indian educated opinion on account of its supine Jisrcgard of Inuia,n feelings and thoughts. For tho time being, the conditions of the peaceful government of an aequiescing people were rapiuly departing from lnditt. 'The Congress itself had to move, and at Calcutta it so far rcflcuted vigorous opinion outside as to pass resolutions in favour of self-government such as is enjoyed by the Dominions, a national system of education, and the creation of native industries and the boycott "of imported goods that competed with Indian manufactures. Self-government was no new item of the Congress programme. but it was reaffirmed at Calcutta with an emphasis and in circumstances which threw down the ga,untlct with some force; the education resolution was aimed at the policy then pursued of officialising the Universities and of making higher education a kind of Gow.,rnmcnt nun;t:!ry; the others were ccullOllllC replies to political grievances. The twelve months which followed were ruffied by agita- .- THE RISE OF NATIONALISM 17 tion and unsettlement. The Congress gained no influence ; the left wing grew both in authority and activity. The 1907 meeting was to have been held at Nagpur, but the con­ flict which awaited the gathering disrupted the Congressmen of that district rmd Surat was fixed upon. Garrulous rumour was b~y. The Congress was to be guilty of surrender on this point and on that, precious to the Extremists. The assembling delegates went into two camps pitched some miles from each other. Over one Mr. Tilak ruled; over the other, Dr. Rashbehary Ghose, the d(•pt President.. There was to ben eontnst for Uw Presidency, but Mr. Lajput Rai deelined the Extremist HotHiuatiun. l\egotiation;c; went on: depu­ tations came and went between the two utmp«, and < xeitc­ mcnt rose. Before Uw opening of the Congress enthusiasts addt·es::;ed tht·ir fol.lowers assembled u1rly in the tent. The ten:•iun reac-hed breaking-point bdorc it. was time for thP Pil\dal actors to <'Pl;vu' \1 thr· '····ry tipening the storm burst, and the sitting was suspended, lcavilig l\ir, Su r<'n original delegation numben•d l ,(){!0 met and decided to remit, to a committee the framing uf a con­ stitution for the Cong:rest::. Indian nationalism had received a lv~avy blow---at the tinw it might have been its death-blow. Its old leaders, though a majority was still behind them, were nevertheless shom of their glory, and the Congress was discredited. ~ This happened at a most unfortunate time. The spHit of the administration was changing, Mr. Morley was about to produce his Councils Bill, and the most formidable of all Indian political organisations wa;;; crippled just when Indian unity was most required and a concentration of Indian public opinion would have been most useful. Outside, Bengal in particular and Bombay to some extent 2 18 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA were seething with discontent. Papers like the Bande Mataram were suppressed ; the National Education Association was formed to supply a college education apart from the Govern­ ment ; the industrial boycott was raging ; Arabindo Ghoae, liar Dayal, Bipin Chandra Pal, Bal Ganga Dhar Tilak were busy with their propaganda of various kinds of Extr;mism, and the disturbed emotions were undoubtedly going deeper into Indian society than the Congress had ever reached. The committee decided upon at Surat met, and a consti­ tution protecting Congress against Extremists was drafted. At Madras that year the new Congress met, peaceful but weak, united but small. Congress was no longer a meeting-. ground of all independent opinions and all Indian policies. Nationalism wns defined and limited. A section, hailing chiefly from Bengal, asked that the new rules be submit-ted to Cpngress for approval, but it was held that the drafting committee had absolute powers of settlement. That led to further trouble. In HH2 the chiefs of the Congress yielded, the rules wore so modified, and a section returned again to the fold. But tho Congress remained crippled. In tho meantime new channels had been cut along which Indian agitation might run, and new responsibilities imposed upon Indian politicians. In 1909 the Morley reforms were passed, and the Legislative Councils became Congress plat­ forms. Thus ended the conditions under which the old Congress lived and moved and had its being. The Oppo­ sition to the Indian Government was to be found in the seats of the Legislative Councils, and new political conditions arose giving the Congress a new role to fill. Of course the trans­ formation did not take place all at once. Indian opinion still required to be voiced by a political organisation, and in these feebler years the Congress was not without its triumphs. It compelled the Government to undo Lord Curzon's par·· tition of Bengal, and it received the homfl.ge of .imitation from the Mohammedans, who, in 191~, founded the Moslem League. It was au essential platform for Indian nationalism. • .. THE HII'lE OF NATTONALIRM Then came the war and the new life. A Home Rule Lea.gne was start.ed, tirmcr and more definite ill its demands than the Congress had been, and the younger ::~nd more vigorou,; element:> of nationalism were attracted to that. But 1 he Con­ gress still remained the Congress, and at Ca k:utta in I !I! 7 the Home Rule Leaguers ~md tlH· \'lli1Tl!!t"' 1 J. n1( Ji " flJl ··t·d . . ' - npon th(· i1;un uon,;ervatlV(' denwnt" Mr,, fi.p,,nnt "" PH•:-d dent. Th(' nnity of the ConJ.z:re;.;,.: \YH" 1 -l. mwe• . lm! it held for the meeting and n month or two later. Tlwn upon the question of the attitude to the Mont.agu-( :}wlms ford Report, it broke. This was inevitable. The nuw uonditions of Indian polities and the gro\vth of a new generation with vlwng(•d mind,; uprooted old tn·P'-' under· the shade,; of whieh tlw older men had rested. The old Congress leaders like Mr. Cokhak. flir Pherosesha Mehta, Mr. Surenchanath Banncrjer', han: natvrally passed inio the ranks of ~:-;tatesmen. For them th(· mill:-: of J'f'­ form WET<' grinding stt·adily. The others had no :,;uch n::verence and no such faith. Congrc""' had taught I11di<> tP thi11k and ad· rwliticaily; the )lodcy reform:-< had oblikratcd the great non-political distinction between Mohammedan and Hindu hut had made a. breach in Indian public opinion between progressive and moderate. This is not a r:1lamity :;uch aB the Sura.t. split n-aB. It is the natural ('VolutiuH d tl1iugs, aml. if it. marks the end of the Congress as we knew it, that '"'·ill not be regretted when it is seen that the CongreRs did not end thus until the political condition" of India into which it fitted had already ended. The Indian Government ought to Ree thnt it ;. . •. with Indian opinion, and should begin its IWW ta;;k by t hn)\\ ing away all useless defences. It should change its angle of vision, for the nature of its work has changed. It is no longer that of a government of civil servants, but of states­ men ; its problems are no longer office and administrative problems, but political and legislative ones; it can no longer THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA be a committee of Civil Service heads of departments, it must be a Cabinet. And the change hnR como from without owing to the growth in Indian merit and self-confidence, owing t~ the strengthening of Indian opinion. Whilst we sat in our chairs of office, the hal!R and courtyards became full of people animated by a new will. The relation of our imperialist power to their obcdiPnce had been revolutionised. • Our •power now knows its weakness, their will its strength, and we need no writing on the wall to tell us th~1t such things belong to the nature of freedom, and their fulfilment should be the pride of tho nation that has done its work so welL They close aneicnt ehapters, but do not end histories; they change. relationships, but not allegiance. We must nut make the mistake of meeting the demand for more legislative authority in the same dilatory, niggarcription could have been aptly applied to tlw earlier stages of eYery Liberal movenlent.. 1\'1. Cbaillcy ;:!WPrs nt the •'nly prnni that could PVN lw given tb!i 1ndin j,; 1rakc politically. Tn tiw uatm·r· • ,f things, puliti•·:d rdy by the educated ; when it 11 a.s HJH!ertaken by the ma.;~e" it was tlH:· J\futin;v; nnrl the t'dH<'atod \\'f'f'e houud to lw thP prc)fessiomd dns,;t·~ citlH·r hnving •·r•me from tltt':mic poHitiom;. H wns :->o in (;rent Britain, wlwn· 'the Liberal movenH:nt was middle da,.;s, rid1 and prof<'sHiona L The working classes eome in later with their new cnuses of difference and tests of representation. The Indian movement 1 Admini.~trative Problems of British India, by Joseph Chailley, pp. 164-5, 22 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA is still in the first stage, and if the Congress satisfies that, it justifies itself. The lack of education and of self-confidence­ mainly owing to caste-amongst the masses will make tlie transition from the first stage to the second in India far more difficult than it was here, but that does not excuse us for quarrelling with the first stage itself, or for refusing•to see that that and that only could be the characteristics of the commencement of tho conflict. The economic resolutions of the Congress do reflect the interests of the middle class and those in economically strong positions. ];"'or instance, if its views on land taxation and ownership hncl been carried out, the ultimate effect would not have been to benefit the cultivator, but to increase the amount of Indian rent enjoyed by private people and the ease with which creditors could seize the land of the agriculturists. Its 8ommorcial views have been generally those of manu­ facturers, and working-class needs have rarely absorbed tho thoughts of these Christmas gatherings. We have to remem­ ber, however, that the Congress has been a Nationalist move­ ment as well as a Liberal one, and when Nationalist issues are at stake, as history so abundantly shows, all other political considerations are in the background. Congress, however, like our own middle-class Liberal move­ ment, has been behind every a,ttempt made to educate the people, a,nd it has opposed the Salt Tax and drawn attention to the impoverishing effects of certain other forms of taxat~n. This also is a characteristic of parties in the Liberal stage of a country's evolution. Liberty has not received at their hands an ample programme, oppression has not been dis­ covered in the many places where it has its authority ; but homage is paid to the one and war declared on the other. Therefore we can let things take their course. Speaking generally, Congress opinion is to find its way first of all into• authority in India. It will create reactions, as all political movements in authority do, as indeed is seen in the Congress itself; it will look at India perhaps too much from its own ' • THE RiNE OF NATJONALI!:-iM paint,-tubos on to it~ paper and eanva1", and ;:;triYe::; ltl vain to capture that reposeful mastery whieh is lik£> a presiding presence in aH great art ; the other in a totally difierent 1n1rld of thought, and inspiration puts tlK pleat of some of the Western daubs shown at the Cakutta S<.:hool of Art to make room for true Indian work, the latter cried out· that it wa,; a dark plot to keep them ignorant. \Vhen the Go-vernment peopo;Jes t.u do good it is su;,:pected of. bad moth-es. The ,:;awe contra;:;t i;:.; felt n·gard:s the stage, although here the Indian has not produced genius. And yet, in spite of crudities in acting generally amounting to terrible amateurishness, the difference between an English and an Indian play i.-: c, or of the athck nf mighty natm·cd for(''' like the :- on the journey. The project es:pa.ndccl, and at lasi., they asked for pow;>rs to estab­ lish and conduct a permanent trade >vit.h India. Jn due time they established factories where Bombuy, Madras, and Calcutta now :-;tand, but they found both French and Portu- ···-..., guese n:1erchant8 thm-e before them, and rivalry could not 'fe confined to the bazaar and the eounting-housc. Under 1 For instance, in the Queen's Proclamation of l8G8, when assuming the sovereignty of what wore tho Company·, territories, this wa~ said : .. \\'e desire no extension of our present t\d<· !Y10fhtp( h· b:l l~i, l; :'t·qu :, ;1 ·qpfH l' ~~ 1 !it' !\qeT·ht\rJ~-~l~d~. dd tJl_; ; ,,· .. , ,,,, pu\\('!' iw Ju~ilj.! ~'wing t\~ ntH· {'t't1JH.!JJ1i~' hty. il~(·" ii'r ... f t~ uf '-•ll r t.t·;H!e:"' :ond Ul ptain,:, otu· fket. nnd 111 \I <.·i •' ldt t<' fii, ,. our Jndi:~ll l'c' Tnn, united. The latter is the predominating creative factor in Indian politim;. It may he that the central Government should be a federation of Statek ;mel provinces, eaeh enjoying wide privi­ leges of self-government. That is a matter of machinery and political convenience. All I :tm eoncerned with here is to ') ,, THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA point out, at the very threshold of this study, that the pre­ dominating tendencies in Indian life are not diverse rites and tongues, but the unification of all into one sovereignty. That is the great influence that has made the history of the British occupation, and that now presents it with its greatest problem. • It is true that the economic origin of our settlement in India ha8 meant that we have ll8ed our political powers there' for economic purposcH. Nothing more conclusive has been written on that than tlw criticism passed on the Company by Adam Smith. "As sovereigns, their interest is exactly the same with that of the country which they govern. A~:~ merchants, their interest is exactly opposite to that interest." That critici:-:m, c;omPwhat altered in its literary form, bu~ un­ tondied in itH c;ubstance, alwa,ys holds good of foreign States· governing pPople:-; as we govern India-but that in passing. It may be true, as sonw say, that economic considerations rule poJitieal policy. But in the government of subject peoples hy :-:ovNcign States, (·cmlomic considerations influence both :-:ide:-: and create politicnl nwveml'nt.c; amm1gst the sn bjcct as well as amongst the ruling peoples. Moreover, a subject people that i:-: bt;ing educated and that i~ breathing the air of liberty will be purchased by no economic price and will sacrifice advantage in order to enjoy self-government. Thus neither the sovereign nor the subject nations can avoid. the troubles and the problems of political liberty, which must always be both the judge and the goal of all policy. As I have indicated, at a very early time the British nation regarded the transactions of the merchants in India as being something more than trading affairs. We felt we were under­ taking political responsibilities, and consequently the long­ (lrawn-out history of the relations of the Company and th_e Government tells the story of how the nation's sense of its obligations to India overshadowed the original purpose of the Company, and political intentions and ideas supplanted • THE CONQUEST' 3 • 0 those of tradP. \Ve rE,garded the people a,..: wnnh '1nd we governed as trustees. Tlw Indian poliLic<• l prohh·m !mE< not. been '>lit' qf ho\\ \ally perfect. been po:-;sible, ~.;o that at no time could we be absolutely eonsistcnt. VVe have had to s:werve now and again. The pressure of circumstances has occasionally driven our representativeH from the principles which, through the generations, we believed we were carrying out, and they have HOmetimes met with regret and opposition THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA the evidences of India's awakening; but these uncertainties have been but incidents on the way. As the trading station inevitably became the political capital, so, with equal inevita­ bility, unless the British political genius is to change funda­ mentally for the worse, the British conquel:lt is to issue in Indian liberty and self-government. • • • CHAPTER II P1~ItLIAMENTARY CONTROL AND THE NEURETAHY OF STATE I-p ARLIAME~TARY COXTROT, THE powers under which the Company worked not only allowed it to trade \dthout. rivals, bnt to fortify it,; ,;ettlements, maintain both land and sea. force:-;, fight for it;; rigltts and Pstahlish '·onrt:o. Thns it nro('l'l·ded not onlv to do husinc.-oc but to acquire territory, n~cl by thn end of. the ::iCVcntc~nth century its political aspect was so important to it that in one of its resolutions' it uraw:> attention to the fact that the Dutch Companies of a similar nature " write ten paragraphs concern­ ing their government, their civil and. military policy, Wtlrfare, and the increase of their revenue, for one paragraph they write concerning trade," and suggests that the London Com­ pany should apportion its attentions accordingly. It also states that the increase of its political revenue had become as llillch its concern as the increase of it;-; trade, and refers to its task of " making us a nation in India." In this respect, as in many others, Cromwell showed the prevision of a great Imperial statesman and asked that " a national interest" should be taken in India. A8 early as his time it was seen that the Company was in reality <1 politiclLl body, and that its existence was involving the whole nation in responsibility. The Revolution of 1688 swept a way the right of the Crown to grant these trading monopolies, and when the Company, putting its Charter privilege into force, detained a ship in the 1 1688. 37 38 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA Thames because it suspected that the cargo was to be used to compete with its East India trade, Parliament stepped in and declared against charters issued by the Crown giving exclusive trading rights. There end and begin clearly marked stages in the history of our conquest of India. At this point tho Company became a thing of Parliament anft not.of the Crown, and subsequently, in renewing and amending its charter~, Parliament interfered more and more with the conduct of the Company's business. Ji...,or the next century and a half the hit-~tory of the Company is one of territorial expansion in lndi:t with :1 progressive contraction of its in­ dcpemlcnt governing authority and a growing control by Parlin,nHmt. At first, Parliament was in the position of an uncomfortable spectntnr Kceing its reealeitmnt and pushful subjects comrn.it­ tinv. i L to obligations against, it;,; will whilst it was powerless to call a, halt. "Forasmuch," ;mid the Act of 1784, renew­ ing the Charter and voicing the long-held unhappy feelings of thl' Governml'.nt,, "as to JHll':-nw Hehemcs of conquest and l'Xtt·nsion of dominion in India arc measures repugnant to the wish, tho honour, and the policy of this nation, it Hhallnot be h~wful for the Governor-General in Council to declare war ... withmtt; expre::;:o command 11nd authority " from the Home Government. Parliament declared its authority, but was in no position to enforce it. In 1765 Clive returned to India to complete tho task which he hnd begun eight years before when he fought tho battle of Plassey, and created a condition of affairs which in a few years led to the Company becoming possessed of the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa-another landmark in the Conquest. The history of the years was a strange mingling of great honour and dishonour, when every quality which is the pride of an Englishmo,n has to Le Lulu uf siue by side with deeds that. are a disgrace to him. Within two years Clive was back in England, having put the East India Company in possession of the revenues of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, and having taken • PARLIAMENTARY CONTROL the first step which finally transformed the trading Company into an Imperial authority. However proud the country was of C!ivc·'s wonderful achievements, and however generous it d,~-;m•< til tL ;r ];j,., t·omluet, there were faults in him rtn government vf the h·rritorie:- ~Ybich hnd fidkn llnder the cont-rol of the Company, but it ,va:-. nut iu<• tnr it to begin imposing :-;ueh CI)!Hlitions upon ibe Comprmy u~' would confine· it in it::: tran:-;adions to way:,; appH;vcd 1iy H:n nn.t.ional sentiment It had. iH:\ICVi r. j.,.,,,nw HVidPrll. t.rwt· Padi and .'\(--! !!1-tf.'j'>"'('(i !lllt•:.._, llti;--, !l\(t(lt ;\;, ~~.tt( tlJf.'! ' ·-t't· ii r tht·~ were 8teadily carried uut. Indw wac; put uuder dwd control, annts taken from it. It was becoming more and more evident that this trading company on the mw hilnd had to becomf' n governing authority, and on.thc uther 'IYas of no n,;e as ,;ueh. After the usual interval of twenty year:-:. the Government of India Ad, J 83:~, was pas::;ed---another conc;picuou::; landmark in thi::; period of transition. Truly rlid Palmer:-;ton say that the Company had then become "a phantom of its original body." 2 In its preamble the Act declared that "the United Company of Merchants in England trading to the East Indies" were willing to put their authority and property at the disposal of Parliament. The Company's Charter was to be renewed 1 Lord Wclle8ley: Rulers of Indiu (p. :.!06). " Hansard, February l:.!th, 1838. 42 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA until 1854, and meantime it was to hold its property in trust for the Crown and use it for tho governing of India. All trading monopoly was taken away, and the Company WQS deprived of its commercial liberties. The Board of Commis­ sioners was to have absolute control of these governmental properties and rights, and all letters and docpmen~ from the Directors on Indi1m policy were to be submitted to it. By this time only tho dismissal of certain servants and the Home establishment remained outside the control of ,the Board. The Act ah;o provided in very specific terms that colour or race or religion Rhould be no bar to the employment of Indians in Government service. This Act was the begin.,. ning of the end, the ::;ignal that the curtain was to drop and close for over that wonderful scone where ma::;terful men venturing after profits founded an Empire. Tho signal 'WaS rop~ated in 185:;, and the emphatic declaration made that· the administration of India was "too national a concern to be left to the cha1wes of benevolent despotism." But before the curtain actually did drop, a wilJHktwl' wiLlt Lord Minto which Lord Morley has puhli:-;hcd in hi;; Rl'colltclions :-;howR a Secretary with n policy gently hut firmly piloting it nlong narrow rock­ bound dmnnelH; hut in tlmt caHl', as indeed in regard to the Montagu-Chclm:-;fonl proposal:-; as well, the start is made by agreement in both Whitehall and Simla that something must be done, and the rc:-;t is the Rtory of a bargain. The more thn,t self-Government i:-; developed in India, the less will the Secretary of State count. He is generally distrusted by the bureaucracy because he represents Parliament and a little of democracy, and for a short time after his appointment he is an object of curiosity to Indians. When he hn,s a will and ideas, he has power and can exerci::;e it. His constitu­ tional position is therefore less important for practical pur-. poses than his personality. SLill, there can be no question about the supremacy of Pal'liamcnt and none about the responsibility of the Secretary • THE SECRETARY OF STATE 45 of State. And yet the Secretary is in a position constitution­ ally different from any other Secretary of State. His salary w not pair! from British revenues, and he has to act with a i :uurkiL Both nf tiw"t' p,·,·ulinrltie-o ur0 survivals from Com­ pan:, ~nl( tlw •~tH: iT:winding: u:: tl!nl Ht"' P"lv·u -: urH'<· limih:d to checking Indian administration. A habit has nHm· intluenee upon an Englishman than fl. reason. Ttw Secretary of State':-; sulary is paid. from Indian l'f'VPnues,' and his policy uonseq1wntly cannot lw n~vinved in tlw House of Commons, as is the ea:4e when Supply f•ll' other Depart­ ments is being discussed. This is why rcfonner;-:> every year, in connection with the Indian Bndg<'t debate, nRed to discuss n, resolution to put the Secretary of State's c:nlary npon the est.irrHttr;s nnd pa,y it, from Home l'('sourccs, Th0 dfecj; of this change w-ould bt' fu1mall.\ tn ·mnomH:e tlw (·<•ntrol of Parliament over Indinn aJfairs. That ht· l;-' w l fully responsible to Parliftment i·~ nevertheles,.; true, as 1vas shown by Mr. Austen Chamberlain's resignation in eonscqlwnce of the exposute of t!w scandn l connected with the lack of supply of medicaJ stores to th<, army op•·rating in ?.Ie8opoLunifl in 1915-16. This limitation of Parliamentary (~ontrol, though it would he convenient if it w0re removed, is of no substantial importance, as, in spite· of it, Parliament can question the SeGretary and can exercise control over him, IYhenever it comes to discuss his conduct, by one of tlw several way;; pro­ vided, in addition to voting his salary. The other limitation is more serious, and provides the Secretary with a double allegiance and responsibility which not only makes him less than the servant of Parliament, but enables him to shield himself from Pdr!iarneutary criticism .:md puts him in a position which tends to \\eaken Parlia­ mentary control. 2 1 Government of India Act, c. G. 1 Writing to Lord l\Iinto after the long discussions on tho Reform Scheme 46 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA The original of the Secretary of State's Council was the Board of Control created by the Act of 1784. Our Colonies, being, from their origin, constitutionally possessions of the Crown, came to be governed (apart from the realities of Parliamentary control, and subsequently of their own con­ stitutions) by the King in Council- that is, the P.rivy Cvuncil; whereas our Empire in India, being the creation of a trading Company which at an early stage Parliament held to be responsible to it, came to be governed not by the King in Council, but by a Secretary of State in Council, and thus historical forms were preserved and the Board of Control idea survived in a new body adapted to the new constitu­ tion. It is too often a characteristic of our methods of goYern­ ment that we continue to work with old machinery after it has ceased to have any meaning, or when the effect of its worl-:ing has been n.ltered. It seems to be a safeguard against · revolutionary change. In reality it is a survival of the useless, and leads to inefficiency, if not to greater evil. The Board, which at first consil:lted of not more than :c>ix Privy Councillors, of whom the Chancellor of the Exchequer and a Secrctar·y of State had to be two, was modifkd in itB compoHition from time to time. Since lHJ I the Presirknt of the Board had been a member of the Ca.binet, and when Parliament supplanted the Company, the Act of 1 H5H retained the Board, called it a Council, and fixed its membership at fifteen. Ten membert> required as a qualification that they had served or resided in India at least ten years, and had not left India for more than ten years. The membership is now fourteen, and ten of the members must have been in India for ten years and have left it for not longer than five were over, Lord Morley remarks with reference to the powers which agree. ments between Councils in Simla and Whitehall give : " \Vhen Whitehall and Simla come to an agreement, the matter is practically avor, whereas s. Cabinet has to fight its Bill through Lhe two Houses" (Recollections, ii. p. 322) Thua Lhe settlement of great Indian affairs now takes place out­ side Parliament, which, assuming the superior knowledge of the expert Council a generally, agrees to their agreement, THE SECRETARY OF STA.TJappnmtnw111 !ni;.< l;~· ! ,;;~ befnn· both Hnn"l''' nf Parlia­ mt·nt. .\i. mlwr,. rn;'Y lw lTJlll;\·,:! flTilli Pffi,••· ~~~ r h·· ( 'ruwn >11 au :..ddrn.;:.; fn.>Jll hotl1 .Holl.-iC.~. Xo nwndwr uf \ iw { ·,Hll!l'l! n1a.y he H Membt>r of ParJiamenL. Lunl l\'lul'll.~ •.'i";,,d ; appoint Lord Cromer, but. uonld not h(•eau,;t· he wa:< n 1\l<>mlJt,r of the HonsP of Lurds! The salary at.tadwd to i he offiee is £1 ,ooo per annum. Five nwmlwrs must he pre~Tnt wlwn bnsines,: i,; tran:;;aeted. :J\.1eeting;:; must be held at .least <•DC(' a week, and the Secretary nf :::itak prt>sivill thus be seen that Uw Council is not mNcly an advisory body. It ha:-; authority. It hal' not only to be consulted, it ha:-; to agree. The a wk\vardn('si-\ of the situation which wovld be ('l'eatnd if the Secreta.ry forced hiB desiroB in the teeth of the opposition of his Council, even when he has con­ stitutional authority for doing so, limits his authority in practice more than it is limited by law. On the one hand, there is the Sceretary of State, who uomcs nnd goes with political majorities in the House of Commons, who conse­ quently is appointed t·o bring to bear upon the Government of India influenees congenial to public: opinion and to the political principles of the party which he represents, and who 1 Government of India Act, 1915, s. 3. I Recollections, ii. 233. 48 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA is responsible to the House of Commons for his policy, and to the Cabinet, of which he is n member. On the other hand, his action is limited by a Council which is more of the nature of a body of civil servants, hut which has the power in the most essential matters of governrnent to hamper the Secretary of State in doing what he thinks he ought to de. 1 Ailild this Council is non-representative; it acts of its own untmmmelled will; it is not directly re:-;ponc;ihle to Parliamt•nt. 'l'his constitutiont~l anomaly eould not ha,vc exi;.;ted for ·~ gerw1'l\- tion if P:trliument had taken an active interest in Indian • affairs. The intention of Parliament in maintaining the Board of Control was to recognise that the Government of India requin•d special knowledge. When the Company administered, public opinion and political responsibility had to watch it ; when P:trliamcnt became responsible, expert knowledge had to· guide it. Parliament decided that it had to receive infor­ mation-hence the Annual Report on tho M:1tcrinl and Moral Progre::;s of India and the st(ttutory :Financial Statements '­ and it estnhli::;hed the ewotom of an annual debate on the Indian Budget-not always observed, however. But for the det:tilH of the administration it did not leave the Secre­ tary for India as it left the Secretary for tho Colonies, and so it adopted, as I have explained, the method of dun,l control. Obviously there arc n,ll the clements, on paper at any rate, of a serious clash of authority in this armngcmcnt, and v.e,ry soon after it was adopted, the position of the Council was the subject of discussion in Parliament. In 1869 the matter was debated in the House of Lords, when lawyers took hope- lessly conflicting views. But the Duke of Argyll laid down the common-sense political doctrine. He held that the Council, I Lord Morley, writing to Lord Minto whilst discussing the projected Reform scheme, said : "There was always the off-ch•W"A that :;orr•t>Lhiug might go wrong. flrqt in Cabiu<>~, ~econd in my Council, and third, and most dangerous, in tho H. of C." (Recollections, ii. 216). He was " relieved" a.t not having to overrule his Council (ibid. ii. 317). ' Government of India Act, 1858, s. 53. l .. THE SECRETARY OF STATE though a qua~d-Parliamcnt for certain mattPr:-:, and in,\ i1 utnl by Parli::~mPnt a:- it;; dqnlty, '~''''' ,\'t·i ,,nhjPcl h. p,q]iamr·nf It 'rtt' c-1t·:~·i.\ :rnd' r-t!'t!d ',L~:t ~1\t 1b{~' Hou,..:c "'''P" i i 'xpn<~r -, ;Jl; ''Pilll< n '!l l1Pf'1t·d\\'ti; !nd)c; th::iJI!I.'lYH111flJ, [,.;· !~!,I ought 14'; •·ea~·." The point, however, i,, nul "U w1wh 1.1 htt such a body would do •Jn the O(·casion of open cunfiict \\ ith the Secretary of State, the Cabinet, or Parliament ibelf (as when the Hou,.;r: of Lord.-'' challenged thP fimnwial nutfH,rity of the House of Commons ill J!l(:!l), hut wl.nt i1" infiw·JH<' is in ihe ordinHry ;·pnduct d lndi;m atfnir:-;. C,n,.,titutii_)md definitions are rarely the> ,.;ubject of high dispute. The Council is there day by day, a Jh'lpdual influenev. <• pn':~<·ncv tbnt i2. felt--and that i" it;,; importance. Art·empt< h;n·c hcr·n made fr,,m iow '" \ime to J((nnstruct theCounc·il! u,, c,,\'('l'H!lt1!1 ir,'!!icre­ tary for India ;,;}wuld have a. divickd n•spomdbility between Parliament and his CounciL Xot a few who advocate the change also wish to strengthen t.he Council against bot.h the Secretary and Parliament. For theRe very reasonR, the pro­ posal strikes at both Parliamentary control and self-govern­ ment, and ought to be opposed. .For rea:,;ons which I now proeet·d tu give, Lhe Council should be weakened and abolished rather than strengthened an