1939-10-27 — Page 12

THE CHINA, MATH, OCTOBER 27, 1930

BRITAIN'S INDIA POLICY

Mr. Wedgwood Benn Criticises White Paper SIR SAMUEL HOARE GIVES MASTERLY REVIEW: POSSIBILITIES IMMENSE

MADRAS CONGRESS PARTY ACTS

Madras, To-day.

The Legislative Assembly at Madras by 153 votes to 22, pass- ed a motion disapproving the and ex- Viceroy's declaration pressing confidence in the Min- iatry and approval of its inten- tion to resign.

Members of the Muslim League Party walked out of the Assem - bly when the Speaker ruled out of order the party's amendment. -Reuter.

STRIKE IN SHANGHAI POST OFFICE

ALL

SHANGHAI, TO-DAY. CHINESE EMPLOYEES IN THE SHANGHAI GENERAL POST ON STRIKE YES- OFFICE WENT TERDAY AFTERNOON, FOLLOW- ING

INSTRUCTIONS FROM SHANGHAI POST OFFICE CHIN- FSE EMPLOYEES UNION.

THE

London, To-day.

IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS debate yesterday THEFT FROM on India, Mr. Wedgwood Benn (Labour) said FRIEND OF that he considered the White Paper a "clumsy

document." It had drawn penetrating ques- FATHER

tions from Mr. Gandhi: What were our war aims, and whether India could share them? He reviewed India's contribution in the last war and the contribution she could make in this one. India hated Hitlerism as much as Britain did. There had been a lot of unnecessary confusion in the matter of Britain's policy of Dominion status. India was now asked to make sacrifices, and she was entitled to be assured that the cause was also hers—namely, freedom.

He considered that Indians should the end of the war, and that during .be be represented on the Imperial War the war leading Indians should

He agreed that consulted about all important ques- Council in London.

done about the tions. nothing could be 1935 Act until the war was over, but Britain must now decide how far she could go in securing the freedom of India,

task of send on any

re-

It

These proposals had been jected by Congress' and accepted. by most of the rest of India.' had been asked why Britain could not have gone further and made political Indians more directly re- sponsible for the conduct of the

war,

Regarding the eventual discussion of this, he said that conferences should

might The Union some days ago petition-be held in India, and the

for a office authorities

any delegates. Britain ed the post

It must be remembered that the around the salary increase of $15 per would be to set the seal general

British policy centred

full agreement the Indians made.

policy of Dominion status, the month.

TWO PROPOSALS

parts re-equality of India with other Replying, Sir Samuel Hoare

the of the

status Empire. Dominion two proposals ferred to the Viceroy had made, that the constitu- must be regulated by the facts that

actually exist. tional policy should be considered at

This was rejected and yesterday none of the Chinese employees re- turned to work after lunch. Own Correspondent.

Our

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Mok Chi-leung, 24, was charged before Mr. R. Edwards this morning.

with stealing a gold finger ring set with pearls and dia- with diamonds, a fade and gold ap- pendage set monds, and $200 in Chinese currency Siu-

kwan, at the Great Eastern Hotel.

Defendant. told the Court that he

of

from a Chinese lady, Cheng

Complainant, an acquaintance wished to join the Chinese army. defendant's father, asked the Court to

deal with the case leniently.

to two Defendant was sentenced months' hard labour,. and was recom- mended for banishment.

world had ever known. Britain's po- licy was not to govern, but to help others to govern themselves.-Reuter. Sir Samuel Hoare referred to the divisions that had made so difficult, the task of establishing a respon. sible government at the centre in India, and said that as long as they existed It was. Impossible for the Government to accept the demand for Immediate full responsibility at the centre on a particular date.

If they did so they would be false to the pledges given time after, time in the most solemn words to the Moslem and other minorities and to the European community.

NO CHOICE Referring to the alternative of non- Congress went its own way and the British Government and the minority communities in India went theirs, Sir Samuel said:

DIVISIONS IN INDIAN LIFE Difficulties arise out of the many divisions in Indian life and the In-co-operation, under which the Indian dians' themselves must remove them. So long as they exist, the Government cannot accept a demand for more and full responsibility without being false to the pledges to minorities and the foreign communities.

a

по

were

*Regarding the suggestion that Indian political leaders should hold portfolios, this was also difficult question, but he saw reason why the situation should not

re-examined, be carefully providing these difficulties removed. With regard to the consultative con- ference, Congress had too hastily as sumed this meant nothing. He urged them to re-consider this point and, he believed they would find the Viceroy eager to take political leaders into his confidence on war problems.

GREAT POSSIBILITIES

great "I believe myself that the

this possibilities of consultations of kind are not sufficiently appreciated," the Foreign Secretary went on.

If full use were made of them, the they might well prove to be

to carry India bridge on which over the great division of com munal bitterness Into the new way of.constitutional, advance.

the

It would make discussions at end of the war easier. "-

He urged Congress to meet the Vice- roy before taking any irrevocable de- cision.

MIGHT PUT CLOCK BACK If, as rumoured, it came to "non- operation," "we here have no choice." The British Government wanted co- operation, not conflict. It wanted to see its policy of Dominion status for India achieved and the realization of conditions in which India could take its real place in the. Empire:

Non-co-operation might put the Block back for years.

In India Britain had started

iment Constitutional

"If it comes to this issue we should have no choice. The King Emperor's government must be carried on with efficiency, strength and justice."

After stating that they had started India on the greatest constitutional experiment the world had ever seen, Sir Samuel added:

MISSION IN WORLD

"We long ago set aside Imperiallstic ambitions. We believe our mission in the world is not to govern other peo- ple but to help others to govern them- selves, as shown in the India Act of 1935, under which, of our own free wide authority will, we transferred to the Indian Government.'

"It is in this spirit that we `In- tend to administer the Act, and' during the war do our utmost to remove the divisions standing In the way of its full achievement. "When the war ends, and ends vic- toriously, as the result of the Em- pire's united efforts, we mean to pro- ceed at once to deal' with the con- stitutional difficulties that have emerged in the experience of recent years. ::

and non-co- "Non-co-operation, operation alone, will stop this swift,

Reuter. steady progress."

NO FINALITY.: Sir Hugh O'Neil, the Under-Secre- tary of State for India, winding-up the debate, said that no reasonable person could deny the inherent Justice of the position adopted ... In the Viceroy's statement.

⠀⠀ There was after all, he finality to the Whi the right conditions, sible, before the end begin negotiation

anding