gratitude of Indians all over the country. The Viceroy said :- Recently your compatriots in South Africa have taken matters into their own hands by organising what is called passive resistance to laws which they consider invidious and unjust, an opinion which we who watch their struggles from afar cannot but share. They have violated, as they intended to violate, those laws, with full knowledge of the penalties involved, and ready with all courage and patience to endure those penalties. In all this they have the sympathy of India-deep and burning-and not only of India, but of all those who, like myself, without being Indians themselves, have feelings of sympathy for the people of this country. But the most recent developments have taken a very serious turn, and we have seen the widest publicity given to allegations that this movement of passive resistance has been dealt with by measures which would not for a moment be tolerated in any country that claims to call itself civilised. These allegations have been met by a categorical deuial from the responsible Government of South Africa, though even their denial contains admissions which do not seem to me to indicate that the Union Government have exercised a very wise discretion in some of the steps which they have adopted. Presiding over a meeting at Madras, the Lord Bishop of Madras said : The Viceroy's speech has been condemned as undiplomatic. But there is a time for all things. For many years, the Government of India have tried patiently to secure justice for the Indians in South Africa by diplomatic methods, and they have failed. And now that matters have been brought to a dangerous crisis and all India is ablaze with a firy indignation, the time has come to put aside the soft phrases of diplomacy, to call a spade a spade, and to tell the politicians of South Africa plainly how their action in this matter is regarded in India. We are deeply grateful to His Excellency that he has done this and has come forward at a critical time as the spokesman and representative of the Indian people. Rioting by Indians in Natal was followed by the appointment by the Union Government of a Committee of Inquiry, at which the Government of India was represented by Sir Benjamin RobertThe Report of the Commission afforded the basis of a settlement, commonly regarded as equitable so far as it goes. son. On the 8th September 1914, the Viceroy referred to the passing of the Indian Relief Bill in South Africa in the following terms: If the new law does not satisfy every Indian aspiration, it certainly removes the principal sufferings from which Indians for many years have been suffering. At the same meeting His Excellency referred to a far more comprehensive question-the right of immigration of Indians into British Colonies in general-on a basis of mutual reciprocity. In July 1914, the death of Lady Hardinge, wife of the Viceroy, took place in London after an operation. The courage she had displayed at Delhi, when the Viceroy was wounded by a bomb, and the sympathetic and active interest she had displayed in the women and children of India, had endeared her to all classes. Her death was widely mourned in India, and her memory is perpetuated by The Lady Hardinge Women's Medical College. In reply to the countless messages of sympathy which His Excellency received, he said : In her, I have lost a truly devoted wife and a most noble helpmate, and the people of India have lost a very loving friend. She loved India, and the people of India, the women and children, the suffering and the poor. None can realise how much, Though gone to her eternal home, her love for India will, I know, remain and bring its blessing from above. The declaration of War in August 1914, was followed in India by an unprecedented declaration of loyalty on all sides, and the numerous offers of personal help or service made by the chiefs and peoples aroused in England a feeling of intense gratitude. A military force numbering some 200,000 was sent from India to Europe and East Africa within a short time of the outbreak of hostilities. ..... The fact that the Government of India are in a position to help the Mother-Country by the despatch of such a large portion of our armed forces is a supreme mark of my absolute confidence in the fidelity of our troops and in the loyalty of the Indian people. I trust that this may be fully recognised in England and abroad. If it was with confidence and pride that I was able to offer to His Majesty the finest and largest military force of British and Indian troops for service in Europe that has ever left the shores of India, I am confident that the honour of this land and of the British Empire may be safely entrusted to our brave soldiers, and that they will acquit themselves nobly and ever maintain their high traditions of military chivalry and There is, I believe, nothing like comradeship in arms before the enemy and joint participation in the dangers and hardships of war, to level all distinctions, to inspire mutual respect, and to foster friendships. This I regard as the bright side of the despatch of our troops to Europe and of the heavy material sacrifices that are being made by India for the sake of the Empire. courage. . I cannot help feeling that, as a consequence, better relations will be promoted amongst the component parts of the British Empire, many misunderstandings will be removed, and outstanding grievances will be settled in an amicable and generous manner. In this sense, out of evil good may come to ludia, and this is the desire of all. About the middle of the year 1914, leading Indians initiated a movement for requesting the authorities to grant an extension of the term of Lord Hardinge's Viceroyalty. Influential meetings were held in different parts of the country praying for the extension, and the leading Indian newspapers gave their cordial approval to the proposal. In June 1915, His Excellency the Viceroy issued the following statement: The Secretary of State has asked me to give publicity to the following announcement made by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons: "Under normal circumstances, Lord Hardinge of Penshurst's term of office as Viceroy and Governor-General of India would have terminated in November next, but His Majesty's Government, recognising the great ervices which Lord Hardinge has rendered to India, and desiring to retain the advantage of his experience during the coming winter, have requested him to remain until the end of March next. Lord Hardinge has readily consented to comply with our wishes, and the King has been pleased to approve the arrangement. I am glad of the opportunity to express my sense of the public spirit which, in spite of the great strain of his labours and in face of heavy private sorrows, has led Lord Hardinge to place his service unreservedly at our disposal," While fulfilling the wishes of the Secretary of State in making public this announcement, I desire to say that while in the critical times through which the Empire is passing, I feel that it is my bounden duty to fall in with the wishes of His Majesty's Government, whatever they may be, it is with no light heart that I have agreed to this prolongation of the onerous responsibilities that fall to a Viceroy's lot, but I do not forget that many of the Ruling Chiefs of India and many Bodies, representatives of communities and interests, have given expression to a wish that the tenure of my office should be extended, and the feeling that I have of the friendly confidence of so many gives me courage to continue to fulfil my duties to the best of my ability and for the welfare of India and her people. In spite of the war, the year 1915 was one of comparative peace and order in India. A continuous effort was maintained in all parts of India to keep the troops at the front and the wounded on their return well supplied with comforts,' and the princes and people of India contributed very handsomely to the various war and relief funds. monsoon The was of a favourable character, and, though at one time famine appeared to be inevitable in Guzarat and Kathiawar, late rains saved the situation. A bill was passed in the Imperial Legislative Council, which gave power to the Governor-General in Council to issue regulations to insure the safety of the country and was modelled, with notable exceptions, on the Defence of the Realm Act. In connection with the war, the Viceroy made a journey up the Persian Gulf visiting the oil works at Abadan, Basra, Shaiha, and Kurna. On his return, he visited Muscat, where there had been fighting. There were several fights on the North-West frontier during the year, but the tribesmen never succeeded in penetrating far into British territory. In September 1914, the return of a number of Sikh emigrants from British Columbia was the occasion of a riot at Budge- Budge. The Lahore Conspiracy Case was the sequel, and in that case a Special Commission sentenced 24 persons to death, 27 to transportation for life, and 6 to terms of imprisonment. Of the death sentences, 16 were subsequently committed to transportation for life. One may see in this, the hand of Lord Hardinge and, although as usual he was blamed for having lowered British prestige, the result showed that the prestige had increased instead of suffering any diminution. In the early part of 1915, the House of Lords adopted a Resolution advising the King to withhold his Royal assent during the continuance of war from the Draft Proclamation creating an Executive Council for the United Provinces. This elicited wide-spread criticism in India, the Viceroy being the most important of those who condemned the House of Lords for their act. Lord Hardinge said at a meeting of the Imperial Legislative Council: It may seem to you, as it does to me, a matter of serious concern that it should be within the power of a small body of Peers, who perhaps hardly realise the rate of progress made in this country during the past few years to throw out a proposition put by the Government of India and His Majesty's Government before Parliament with the full approbation of Indian public opinion. It seems clear to me under the circumstances that modification of the law, by which such procedure is possible, is absolutely essential and I trust this will be recognised by His Majesty's Government. It will be interesting to note that nearly every Province of India has cause to be thankful to Lord Hardinge for the advance made by it in the direction of popular Government. During his time the Central Provinces and Assam have been given Legislative Councils, and in addition to its Executive Council, Behar has had a Legislative Council with an elective majority and a High Court, and is soon to have a University. And if the just demand of the Punjab for a chartered High Court has not been satisfied, we know where to locate the responsibility for the disappointment. The Province is all the same grateful to Lord Hardinge to whom it owed the wise recommendation in that behalf. An important political event during the year 1915, was the acceptance by the Viceroy of a resolution of the Imperial Legislative Council, asking that India should be represented at the Imperial Conference. This has been received favourably in the Colonies. Indians are grateful to His Excellency for having helped India in some measure to occupy her place in the Empire, viz., as an equal partner and not as a mere trusted dependant. The Viceroy opened the new Patna High Court on the 3rd February 1916. And in declaring the Court open, he said : It is, therefore, my peculiar privilege to stand alone among those who have represented the Crown in the Indian Empire presiding at the opening ceremony of a building which is to house a new chartered High Court. This is particularly gratifying to me as it permits me to witness the final steps. I may say "the placing of the coping stone of a great administrative reform which I am happy to say has been brought to its fruition before the close of my term of office and which I believe to be full of hope and promise for the future and tending towards the steady and progressive development of India in accordance with the legitimate aspirations of her people. The noble edifice of our great Empire is founded on justice and cemented with mercy and I am proud to think that during my Viceroyalty this fresh contribution to its stability has been completed and to feel that I am here to day to bear witness to it. With my most earnest wishes that the labours of this Court may be inspired with wisdom, justice and mercy, I will now proceed to open the building. In consonance with his high ideals of Government, His Excellency has followed a policy of trust and co operation in his relations with the Feudatory States and Ruling Chiefs of India. The result has been more than justified in the magnificent rally of the Princes of India to the Empire's flag during this war. On the 26th February 1916, His Excellency performed the ceremony of investing the Maharaja of Jodhpur with ruling powers. In the course of a speech on that occasion, he said : In the critical times through which we have passed since this terrible war began, the moral and national support given by the princes and chiefs of India have been of incalculable value. They took the lead in asserting their enthusiastic loyalty to the King-Emperor both by word and deed. Many of them, including the gallant veteran warrior who to-day will resign his post as Regent of Jodhpur and the young prince who will relieve him of his charge, have served with His Majesty's armies in the field and all with one accord have offered their personal services and lavished theic resources in support of the noble cause which Great Britain has espoused. The services rendered by the ruling princes of India have received the warm appreciation of the King Emperor, and their devotion and loyalty to the Crown and the person of His Majesty, are landmarks in the history of India that can never be effaced. And, in reply to the toast of his health at the United Service Club Dinner, at Simla, the Viceroy uttered these memorable words : Let it be realised that great as has been England's mission in the past, she has a far more glorious task to fulfil in the future in encouraging and guiding the political self-development of the people. The goal to which India may attain is still distant and there may be many vicissitudes in her path, but I look forward with confidence to a time when, strengthened by character and self-respect and bound by ties of affection and gratitude, ludia may be regarded as a true friend of the Empire and not merely as a trusty dependent. The day for the complete fulfilment of this ideal is not yet; but it is to this distant vista that the British official should turn his eyes; and he must grasp the fact that it is by his future success in this direction that British prestige and efficiency will be judged. How hard His Excellency has tried to act up to this great ideal is a matter of current history. But almost the last act of his benificent Viceroyalty has endeared him all the more to the people of India. The problem of indentured labour has for some time past elicited his most anxious care, and his courageous utterances and solicitous actions on behalf of the Indian emigrants abroad are well known to the readers of these foregoing pages. But no half measures on this obnoxious question would satisfy the Indian public. Accordingly, to the infinite rejoicing of the country, when at a meeting of the Imperial Legislative Council on March 20, the Hon. Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya moved a Resolution for the abolition of the system of indentured labour, His Excellency on behalf of the Government of India and with the sanction of the Secretary of State announced his decision to accept the motion which, to quote his own words, would pave the way for the "eventual abolition" of the indentured system. This crowning act of his is not the least of his title to the gratitude of India. Lord Hardinge throughout his Viceroyalty has been actuated by a sincere desire to understand the aims and aspirations of the people of India as voiced forth from time to time by their representatives in the press, on the platform, and in the debates and discussions in the Imperial Legislative Council. It has been a matter for sincere congratulation that the relations between the Viceroy and the representatives of the people were most cordial. The All-India Address presented to him at Delhi, on the 25th March, assigned to him his rightful place in the roll of the illustrious Viceroys of India :— We salute you as the greatest Viceroy since the days of Lord Ripon. We recall with grief the terrible ordeals you have passed through in the performance of your arduous duties. The quick and deep sympathy of a nation followed Your Excellency in those troubles and tribulations. While we feel assured that you will continue to take an abiding interest in the people of this ancient land whom you have loved and served so well, we deeply regret that you are leaving us and that Your Excellency's official connection with India, which will form such a bright chapter in her history, will soon cease. May your days be long and prosperous, and may the Giver of All Good shower upon you and yours Hig choicest blessings. After receiving the All-India Address, at Delhi, Lord Hardinge proceeded to Bombay and, on the 4th of April, laid down his high office and embarked for home. The reception in Bombay was magnificent. It recalls the tremendous demonstrations of enthusiasm that accompanied the parting of another great Viceroy, the late Lord Ripon, two and thirty years ago. Princes and peoples alike gathered together in Bombay to offer a fitting farewell to the retiring Viceroy. The University of Bombay conferred upon Lord Hardinge the Honorary Degree of LL.D. in recognition of his great services for the cause of Education in India. A special Convocation was held for the purpose, and H. E. Lord Willingdon, the Chancellor of the Bombay University, and Dr. Mackichan, the Vice-Chancellor, delivered eulogistic addresses. Lord Hardinge in reply spoke characteristically with a last message to the student community, for whom he has done so much in his Viceroyalty Dr. Mackichan's eloquent reference to a similar Degree conferred on the late Marquis of Ripon was received with great ovation. Lord Hardinge was visibly touched by these demonstrations of affection and solicitude. It is yet too early to measure the beneficence of his great Viceroyalty, but the future historian can judge the value of his work in the light of the spirit in which he served India. At the Garden Party, Lord Hardinge said : If his verdict is at all favourable to me, and if he should cast about for some explanation of any small success I may have had as Viceroy, I will give him this hint: "I have trusted India, I have believed in India, I have hoped with India, I have feared with India, I have wept with India, I have rejoiced with India, and in a word I have identified myself with India." India's response has been a wonderful revelation to me, and sometimes I feel as if she had in return confided her very heart to my keeping. With such kind memories Lord Hardinge may still be expected to take interest in Indian affairs and help the cause of progress in India in the Councils of the Empire. His Lordship's interest on behalf of the Indian people, we are glad to be assured, will still continue. For as he said :: I often feel that when I return to England one of my chief endeavours should be to make the British public appreciate the pace at which India is developing both socially and politically, and that it is vain and useless to regard India from the standpoint of what India was ten years ago, When I look back upon the past 5 years, I am struck by the fact how much bigger India looms in the world than before, how she has grown in stature and in wisdom, and how her political progress and social regeneration have advanced and are already bearing fruit with the prospects of an abundant harvest. The Morley-Minto reforms, in conceding to Indian politicians a larger share in the control of their own affairs, have opened a door to political progress that can never be closed so long as the advance is made on sure and safe lines. That the situation has immensely improved through the closer co-operation of the Government and the people is undeniable, and nowhere is this more appreciable than in Bombay, and there is no reason why, with moderation and responsive sympathy, this improvement should not be maintained. But it must be recognised that India cannot and will not remain stationary, and that it is the task of the Imperial Government to guide her development and to help her to attain her just and legitimate aspirations. H. E. LORD HARDINGE A SKETCH OF His Life and His Viceroyalty. This is a timely addition to the well-known "Friends of India" Series published by Messrs. G. A. Natesan & Co., of Madras. The sketch is an up-to-date account of Lord Hardinge's life and career with special reference to his distinguished tenure of Viceroyalty in India. It opens with a brief resume of his august ancestry and his thirty years' diplomatic achievements. Then begins chronologically a detailed review of his five and a half years of Indian Viceroyalty, interspersed with choice selectious culled from his own utterances both in the Council Chamber and outside. The sketch is thus not only the biography of one of the foremost of English statesmen who ever came to rule India, but is an epitome of the political history of India in what may be called the most stirring times in the history of the British Empire. Almost every aspect of Indian Imperial politics is passed under review. The change of capital, provincial autonomy, university education, indentured labour, reciprocity with the colonies, and all the inevitable results of the War-and the new angle of vision relating to India and the Empire--these and other important aspects of current history are treated with some measure of completeness as indispensable adjuncts of Lord Hardinge's career in India. Price: Annas Four. or G. A. Natesan & Co., Sunkurama Chetty St., Madras. BY MR. A. L. PINTO, B.A. HE West Coast with its mythology, peculiar customs and manners and with its wild scenery of mountain, river and forest has been the birth-place of many a poet who has enriched vernacular literature and been the delight of generations of Indian readers. It was therefore peculiarly appropriate that one of the few poets in India who have as yet sung in English should belong to that coast. Mr. Saldanha was born some forty three years ago at Honovar, North Canara District, where his father was a Sub-Judge. Carefully educated, he became proficient in three languages-English, Canarese, and Mahratti,-and it is said that he could write both poetry and prose in all these languages with facility. Although he studied Canarese up to the F. A., he took up Sanskrit for the B.A., and got through that examination without difficulty. He passed the Matriculation as well as these examinations from the St. Aloysius College, Mangalore, which is justly proud of such a distinguished alumnus. Mr. Saldanha's knowledge of the literature of the vernaculars and of the classical Sanskrit must have infused his poetry with that undefinable element which stamped it with genius and gave him a niche in the Indian poetical firmament. His first appearance in a Madras journal was, I believe, in the Young Men's Miscellany (now defunct) in which he published the poem called "Krishna Kumari." This was in June 1893. I extract a few stanzas : A chieftain claimed her hand, and endeavoured to enforce his demands by threats, but her father rather than yield her to him preferred her to die. Fair as a lotus when it falls Upon the lake's blue water, As blest the eyes that saw her, No human hand could draw her. To him he could not yield her ; He said "I cannot shield her. I've loved my only daughter, And I would rather see her die Than give her him thus sought her." Ab, how the cruel action rent That father's kindly bosom. Yet must the price of love be paid, Of death she should not be afraid, She drank the fatal chalice, With tears enshrined her ashes, And down all passions crashes. It would be seen that in spite of some immaturity of style and defect of phrase, Mr. Saldanha had already fairly mastered the difficult art of versifying and showed distinct promise. He was then studying in the College Department of the St. Aloysius College, Mangalore. The passing of examinations was a great trial to him and his free spirit chafed under the restrictions imposed by the rigid examination system that then prevailed. His feelings found vent in a parody of Hamlet, which I quote at some length; for although it does not claim any poetical merit, it strikes a chord which will find a sympathetic echo in the heart of many a genuine schoolboy: To appear or not to appear-that is the question The berthless fate of youth unqualified The headache and the thousand natural pains For while we wait what vacancies may come That makes calamity of so long study; The pangs of slow promotion, the peon's delay When he himself might his quietus have He first made his mark as a poet with his welcome verses to Their Excellencies Lord and Lady Wenlock when they visited the St. Aloysius College, Mangalore. His deep patriotism and intense religious fervour combined to render these verses memorable among those of his community and college, who were present on the occasion of the gubernatorial visit: Who be ye strangers sitting midst us here When gentle nature bids her children rest? |