Appendix A — A Synopsis of the Indian Industrial Commissioners’ Report
A bureaucracy has the fatal tendency of perpetuating itself and of making itself indispensable. As a result, we find that the prospects and powers of the bureaucracy become more important than even the purposes for which it exists. It is a commonplace of politics that a state exists for the people comprising it, and that the servants of the state are the servants of the people. They are the tools which the body politic uses for its corporate life. Even in self-governed countries the tendency of glorifying the state and the servants of the state at the cost of the people is not uncommon, though the fact is not, or rarely, if at all, admitted in so many words. In dependencies and countries governed by a foreign bureaucracy, however, this fact is undisguisedly kept before the people and they are openly and frankly told that the powers and prospects of the servants of the government are of greater consequence and importance than the wishes and welfare of the people. This is amply illustrated by the extravagant scale on which the government of India pays its European servants and goes on adding to their privileges under all sorts of pretences and excuses. People may live or they may die for want of food, for lack of knowledge of the ordinary laws of hygiene, for lack of employment, but the bureaucrats must enjoy their princely salaries, their hill allowances, their furlough, and travelling and leave perquisites, promotions and pensions. If the cost of living increases, they must get a raise in their salaries, no matter how the increased cost of living affects the general body of the people. Besides, they must have their pensions, as their children are infinitely more important than those of the tax-payer.
We have already reproduced and discussed the recommendations of the Secretary of State for India and the Viceroy, about the European members of the Indian services. The Viceroy has only recently emphasized the importance of a substantial increase in their salaries, although there is a deficit of 20 million dollars in the budget estimates for the next year. That is an old story, however. What we are immediately concerned with are the recommendations of the Indian Industrial Commission, in favor of creating a new branch of public service divided into the inevitable Imperial and Provincial branches, for furthering the industrial development of the country. Our meaning will be clear as we proceed.
The Indian Industrial Commission was appointed by the Government of India “to examine and report upon the possibilities of further industrial development in India and to submit its recommendations with special references to the following questions:—
(a) whether new openings for the profitable employment of Indian capital in commerce can be indicated.
(b) whether, and if so, in what manner, government can usefully give direct encouragement to industrial development,
1. by rendering technical advice more freely available;
2. by the demonstration of the possibility, on a commercial scale, of particular industries;
3. by affording, directly, or indirectly, financial assistance to industrial enterprise; or
4. by any other means which are not incompatible with the existing fiscal policy of the government of India.”
The tariff question was excluded from the scope of the Commission’s inquiries, though it was expressed that the “building up of industries where the capital, control and management should be in the hands of the Indians” was the “special object” which the government had in view. The Government spokesman in the meeting of the Legislative Council at which the appointment of the Commission was announced further emphasized “that it was of immense importance, alike to India herself and to the Empire as a whole, that Indians should take a larger share in the industrial development of their country.” He “deprecated the taking of any steps, if it might merely mean that the manufacturer who now competes with you from a distance would transfer his activities to India and compete with you within your boundaries.”
The Commission has now submitted its report which has been published as a Parliamentary blue book in a bulky volume of about 500 pages including a separate lengthy note by one of the leading Indian members of the Commission. The note is, in our judgment, very valuable, as it gives the Indian point of view of the industrial problem in such a lucid and exhaustive way as to leave no room for doubt as to what articulate India thinks in the matter. The note does not express only the personal opinion of the author but the considered views of the Indian Nationalist Party.
Both the report and the note have been the source of much personal gratification to us as they corroborate and confirm to an extraordinary extent what the author said in his book “England’s Debt to India,” though the report is by no means free from fallacies and one-sided statements of fact and opinions.
II
In the words of the summary prefixed to the report:
“The first chapters of the report deal with India as an industrial country, her present position, and her potentialities. They show how little the march of modern industry has affected the great bulk of the Indian population, which remains engrossed in agriculture, winning a bare subsistence from the soil by antiquated methods of cultivation. Such changes as have been wrought in rural areas are the effects of economic rather than of industrial evolution. In certain centers the progress of Western industrial methods is discernible; and a number of these are described in order to present a picture of the conditions under which industries are carried on, attention being drawn to the shortage and to the general inefficiency of Indian labor and to the lack of an indigenous supervising agency. Proposals are made for the better exploitation of the forests and fisheries. In discussing the industrial deficiencies of India, the report shows how unequal the industrial development of our industries has been. Money has been invested in commerce rather than industries, and only those industries have been taken up which appeared to offer safe and easy profits. Previous to the war, too ready reliance was placed on imports from overseas, and this habit was fostered by the Government practice of purchasing stores in England. India produces nearly all the raw materials necessary for the requirements of a modern community; but is unable to manufacture many of the articles and materials necessary alike in times of peace and war. For instance, her great textile industries are dependent upon supplies of imported machinery and would have to shut down if command of the seas were lost. It is vital, therefore, for the Government to ensure the establishment of those industries in India whose absence exposes us to grave danger in event of war. The report advocates the introduction of modern methods of agriculture and in particular of labor-saving devices. Greater efficiency in cultivation, and in the preparation of produce for the market would follow; labor now wastefully employed would be set free for industries and the establishment of shops for the manufacture and repair of machinery would lead to the growth of a huge engineering industry.”
The summarized statements will be made more clear by the following extracts from Chapter I on rural India.
“Famine connotes not so much a scarcity or entire absence of food as high prices and a lack of employment in the affected areas.... The capital in the hands of the country traders has proved insufficient to finance the ordinary movements of crops and the seasonal calls for accommodations from the main financial centers are constantly increasing. This lack of available capital is one cause of the high rates that the ryot has to pay for the ready money which he needs to buy seed and to meet the expenses of cultivation. On the other hand, money is largely invested in the purchase of landed property, the price of which has risen to very high figures in many parts of the country.... But the no less urgent necessity of relieving the ryot from the enormous load of debt with which he has been burdened by the dearness of agricultural capital, the necessity of meeting periodic demands for rent and his social habits, has hitherto been met only to a very small extent by co-operative organization. The farmer, owing partly to poverty and partly to the extreme sub-division of the land, is very often a producer on so small a scale that it is practically impossible for him to take his crops to the larger markets where he can sell at current rates to the agents of the bigger firms.... A better market system, co-operative selling, and education are the promising remedies.”
Coming to the industrial centers of the country apart from the rural areas, the report says:
“A characteristic feature of organised industry and commerce in all the chief Indian centers is the presence of large agency firms which, except in the case of Bombay, are mainly European. In addition to participating in the export and import trade, they finance and manage industrial ventures all over the country, and often have several branches in the large towns. The importance of these agency houses may be gauged by the fact that they are in control of the majority of the cotton, jute and other mills as well as of the tea gardens and the coal mines.”
The general remarks about the industrial deficiency of the country will be better understood from the following extracts:
“We have already referred to the dependence of India on outside sources of sulphur and the necessity for insisting on the local smelting of her sulphide ores. In the absence of any means for producing from purely Indian sources sulphuric, nitric, and hydrochloric acids, and alkalis, our manufactures, actual or prospective, of paper, drugs, matches, oils, explosives, disinfectants, dyes and textiles are dependent upon imports which under war conditions, might be cut off. Sources of raw materials for heavy chemicals are deficient. The output of saltpeter could be raised to 40,000 tons per annum and supplementary supplies of nitrates could be produced, if necessary, from atmospheric nitrogen; but for this again, cheap electric power is needed. Salt occurs in abundance and the establishment of caustic soda manufacture, preferably by an electric process, that would also yield chlorine, is a necessary part of our chemical programme. There are available in the country, in fair quantity, many other raw materials necessary for heavy chemical manufacture, in addition to those referred to under other heads; among them may be mentioned alum, salts, barytes, borax, gypsum, limestone, magnesia, phosphates of lime and ochres. The installation of plants for the recovery of by-products in coking has recently been undertaken, but for the recovery of tar and ammonia only. The recovery of benzol and related products has so far not been attempted nor has anything been done to utilise the tar by re-distillation or other chemical treatment.
“Although India exported raw rubber valued in 1917-1918 at 162 lakhs, rubber manufacture has not been started in the country and goods to the value of 116 lakhs were imported in 1917-1918. This industry is one of those that are essential in the national interest and should be inaugurated, if necessary, by special measures.
“Though textile industries exist on a large scale, the range of goods produced is still narrow, and we are dependent upon foreign sources for nearly all of our miscellaneous textile requirements. In addition to these, the ordinary demands of Indian consumers necessitate the import of some Rs. 66 crores worth of cotton piece-goods, and interference with this source of supply has caused serious hardship. Flax is not yet grown in appreciable quantities and the indigenous species of so-called hemp, though abundantly grown, are not at present used in any organized Indian industry.
“Our ability to produce and to preserve many of our foodstuffs in transportable forms or to provide receptacles for mineral or vegetable oils depends upon the supply of tin plates which India at present imports in the absence of local manufactures.
“Our few paper factories before the war stood on an uncertain basis and we are still dependent upon foreign manufacture for most of the higher qualities.”
India produces enormous quantities of leather on a relatively small scale by modern processes; and the village tanner supplies the local needs only, and with a very inferior material. To obtain the quantities and standards of finished leather which the country requires, it will be necessary to stimulate industries by the institution of technical training and by the experimental work on a considerable scale.
“Large quantities of vegetable products are exported for the manufacture of drugs, dyes and essential oils, which in many cases are re-imported into India.
“The blanks in our industrial catalog are of a kind most surprising to one familiar only with the European conditions. We have already alluded generally to the basic deficiencies in our iron and steel industries and have explained how, as a result, the many engineering shops in India are mainly devoted to the repair or to the manufacture of, hitherto mainly from imported materials, comparatively simple structures, such as roofs, bridges, wagons and tanks. India can build a small marine engine and turn out a locomotive provided certain essential parts are obtained from abroad but she has not a machine to make nails or screws, nor can she manufacture some of the essential parts of electrical machinery.1
“Electrical plant and equipment are still, therefore, imported, in spite of the fact that incandescent lamps are used by the millions and electric fans by the tens of thousands. India relies on foreign supplies of steel springs and iron chains and for wire ropes, a vital necessity of her mining industry. We have already pointed out the absence of any manufacture of textile mill accessories. The same may be said of the equipment of nearly all industrial concerns. The list of deficiencies includes all kinds of machine tools, steam engines, boilers and gas and oil engines, hydraulic presses and heavy cranes. Simple lathes, small sugar mills, small pumps, and a variety of odds and ends are made in some shops, but the basis of their manufacture and the limited scale of production do not enable them to compete with imported goods of similar character to the extent of excluding the latter. Agriculturists’ and planters’ tools such as ploughs, mamooties, spades, shovels and pickaxes are mainly imported as well as the hand tools of improved character used in most cottage industries, including wood-working tools, healds and reeds, shuttles and pickers. Bicycles, motor cycles and motor cars cannot at present be made in India though the imports under these heads were valued at Rs. 187 lakhs in 1913-1914. The manufacture of common glass is carried on in various localities, and some works have turned out ordinary domestic utensils and bottles of fair quality, but no attempt has been made to produce plate or sheet glass or indeed any of the harder kinds of commercial glass, while optical glass manufacture has never even been mooted. The extent of our dependence on imported glass is evidenced by the fact that in 1913-1914 this was valued at Rs. 164 lakhs. Porcelain insulators, good enough for low tension currents, are manufactured, but India does not produce the higher qualities of either porcelain or china....
“The list of industries which, though their products are essential alike in peace and war, are lacking in this country, is lengthy and almost ominous.2 Until they are brought into existence on an adequate scale, Indian capitalists will, in times of peace, be deprived of a number of profitable enterprises; whilst in the event of war which renders the sea transport impossible, India’s all-important existing industries will be exposed to the risk of stoppage, her consumers to great hardship, and her armed forces to the gravest danger.”
In discussing the part played by Indians of all classes in the industrial development of the Country the Commission observes:
“It is obvious that the great obstacles are the lack of even vernacular education and the low standard of comfort. The higher grade of worker, the mechanical artisan, in the absence of adequate education has been prevented from attaining a greater degree of skill. He finds himself where he is, less by deliberate choice than by the accident of his obtaining work at some railway or other engineering shop, or by the possession of a somewhat more enterprising spirit than his fellows. There is at present only very inadequate provision for any form of technical training to supplement the experience that he can gain by actual work in an engineering shop, while the generally admitted need for a more trustworthy and skillful type of man is at present met by importing charge-men and foremen from abroad.”
In short, the industrial deficiencies of India are directly due to
(a) lack of education, general, scientific, and technical.
(b) lack of encouragement by the Government which has so far deliberately purchased most kinds of stores needed for government requirements from England.
The agricultural deficiencies are due to the same causes plus the poverty of the ryot and his inability to secure the capital necessary for improvements on reasonable terms of interest. Yet, in spite of this we find the Commission laying unwarranted emphasis upon the creation of new posts divided into Imperial and Provincial branches for Industrial, Agricultural, and scientific experts. One should have thought that the first recommendation should be the immediate inauguration of general education throughout the country with adequate provision for technical, scientific, agricultural and commercial instruction.
The industrial development of the country needs these things: (1) general education, (2) cheap capital, (3) skilled labor, (4) protection against improper foreign competition. Expert advice and research are needed very much, but no amount of research or expert advice will advance the cause of industries unless the level of general intelligence has been raised and some provision made for cheap capital and skilled labor. Says the Honorable Malaviya in his separate note:
“If the industries of India are to develop, and Indians to have a fair chance in the competition to which they are exposed, it is essential that a system of education at least as good as that of Japan should be introduced in India. I am at one with my colleagues in urging the fundamental necessity of providing primary education for the artisan and laboring population. No system of industrial and technical education can be reared except on that basis. But the artisan and laboring population do not stand apart from the rest of the community; and therefore if this sine qua non of industrial efficiency and economic progress is to be established it is necessary that primary education should be made universal. I agree also in urging that drawing and manual training should be introduced into primary schools as soon as possible. In my opinion, until primary education is made universal, if not compulsory, and until drawing is made a compulsory subject in all primary schools, the foundation of a satisfactory system of industrial and technical education will be wanting. Of course this will require time. But I think that that is exactly why an earnest endeavor should be made in this direction without any further avoidable delay.”
In support of his opinion he quotes the following pertinent observation of Mr. Samuelson:
“In conclusion, I have to state my deep conviction that the people of India expect and demand of their government the design, organization and execution of systematic technical education and there is urgent need for it to bestir itself, for other nations have already sixty years’ start of us, and have produced several generations of educated workmen. Even if we begin to-morrow the technical education of all the youths of twelve years of age, who have received sound elementary education, it will take seven years before these young men can commence the practical business of life and then they will form but an insignificant minority in an uneducated mass. It will take fifteen years before those children who have not yet begun to receive an elementary education shall have passed from the age of 7 to 21 and represent a completely trained generation; and even then they will find less than half of their comrades educated. In the race of nations, therefore, we shall find it hard to overtake the sixty years that we have lost. To-morrow, then let us undertake with all our energy our neglected task; the urgency is twofold—a small proportion of our youth has received elementary education, but no technical education: for that portion let us at once organize technical schools in every small town, technical colleges in every large town and a technical university in the metropolis. The rest of the rising generation has received no education at all, and for them let us at once organize elementary education, even if compulsory.”
To provide for a new department of experts on a lavish scale before making an adequate provision for general education is putting the cart before the horse. This has been pointed out in a very able article by one of our premier scientists (who has taken a leading part in the development of Indian industries) published in the Modern Review, Calcutta, for March, 1919.
Says Sir P. C. Roy:
“We always begin at the wrong end. I should be the last person to disparage the necessity for scientific research. The simple fact is, however, overlooked that our agricultural population, steeped in ignorance and illiteracy and owning only small plots and scattered holdings, are not in a position to take advantage of or utilize the elaborate scientific researches which lie entombed in the bulletins and transactions of these Institutes. Mr. Mackenna very rightly observes: The Famine Commissioners, so long ago as 1880, expressed the view that no general advance in the agricultural system can be expected until the rural population had been so educated as to enable them to take a practical interest in agricultural progress and reform. These views were confirmed by the Agricultural Conference of 1888. The most important and probably the soundest proposition laid down by the Conference was that it was most desirable to extend primary education amongst agricultural classes. Such small countries as Denmark, Holland and Belgium are in a position to send immense supplies of cheese, butter, eggs, etc., to England, because the farmers there are highly advanced in general enlightenment and technical education and are thus in a position to profit by the researches of experts. The peasant proprietors of France are equally fortunate in this respect; over and above the abundant harvest of cereals they grow vine and oranges and have been highly successful in sericulture; while the silk industry, in its very cradle, so to speak, namely Murshidabad and Malda, is languishing and is in a moribund condition.
“Various forms of cattle plague, e.g., render pest, foot and mouth disease, make havoc of our cattle every year and the ignorant masses steeped in superstitions, look helplessly on and ascribe the visitations to the wrath of the Goddess Sitala. It is useless to din Pasteur’s researches into their ears. As I have said before, our Government has the happy knack of beginning at the wrong end. An ignorant people and a costly machinery of scientific experts ill go together.
“The panacea recommended for the cure and treatment of all these ills is the foundation or re-organization of costly bureaus and Scientific and Technical services, the latter with the differentiation of “Imperial” and the ‘Provincial’ Services, which are in reality hotbeds for the breeding of racial antipathies and sedition. For the recruitment of the Scientific Services the Commissioners coolly propose that not only senior and experienced men should be obtained at as early an age as possible, preferably not exceeding 25 years. What lamentable ignorance the Commissioners betray and what poor conception they have of this vital question is further evident from what they say:
“‘We should thus secure the University graduate, who had done one or perhaps two years’ post-graduate work whether scientific or practical, but would not yet be confirmed in specialization. We assume that the requisite degree of specialization will be secured by adopting a system whereby study leave will be granted at some suitable time after three years’ service, when a scientific officer should have developed the distinct bent.’ In other words, secure a dark horse and wait till he develops a distinct bent! The writer of this article naturally feels a little at home on this subject and it is only necessary to cite a few instances to illustrate how, under the proposed scheme Indians will fare. At the present moment there are four young Indian Doctors of Science of British universities, three belonging to that of London. Two of them only have been able to secure Government appointments, but these only temporary, drawing two-thirds of the grade pay. One has already given up his post in disgust because he could get no assurance that the post would be made permanent. In fact, both of them have been given distinctly to understand that as soon as the war conditions are over, permanent incumbents for these posts will be recruited at “home.” In filling up the posts of the so-called experts one very important factor is overlooked. As a rule, only third rate men care to come out to India. The choice lies between the best brains of India and the mediocres of England and yet the former get but scant consideration and justice.... The creation of so many Scientific “Imperial” services means practically so many close preserves for Europeans.”
In the chapter dealing with Industrial and Technical training the Commission observes:
“The system of education introduced by the Government was, at the outset, mainly intended to provide for the administrative needs of the country and encouraged literary and philosophic studies to the neglect of those of more practical character. In the result it created a disproportionate number of persons possessing purely literary education, at a time when there was hardly any form of practical education in existence. Naturally, the market value of the services of persons so educated began eventually to diminish. Throughout the nineteenth century the policy of the Government was controlled by the doctrine of laissez-faire in commercial and industrial matters, and its efforts to develop the resources of the country were largely limited to the provision of improved methods of transport and the construction of irrigation works. Except in Bombay, the introduction of modern methods of manufacture was almost entirely confined to the European community. The opportunities for gaining experience were not easy for Indians to come by, and there was no attempt at technical training for industries until nearly the end of the century, and then only on an inadequate scale. The non-existence of a suitable education to qualify Indians for posts requiring industrial or technical knowledge was met by the importation of men from Europe, who supervised and trained illiterate Indian labor in the mills and factories that were started. From this class of labor it was impossible to obtain the higher type of artisan capable of supervisory work.”
After pointing out the lamentable deficiency and comparative failure of the half-hearted measures so far taken by the Government to provide some kind of technical education the Commission makes certain recommendations for meeting the needs of the situation, which are supplemented by some pertinent suggestions made by the Honorable Malaviya in his minority report. The aforesaid summary concludes with the following paragraph:
“To sum up, the Commission finds that India is a country rich in raw materials and in industrial possibilities, but poor in manufacturing accomplishments. The deficiencies in her industrial system are such as to render her liable to foreign penetration in time of peace and to serious danger in time of war. Her labor is inefficient, but for this reason capable of vast improvement. She relies almost entirely on foreign sources for foremen and supervisors; and her intelligentsia have yet to develop the right tradition of industrialism. Her stores of money lie inert and idle.3 The necessity of securing the economic safety of the country and the inability of the people to secure it without the co-operation and stimulation of Government impose, therefore, on Government policy of energetic intervention in industrial affairs; and to discharge the multifarious activities which this policy demands, Government must be provided with a suitable industrial equipment in the form of imperial and provincial departments of Industries.”
Footnotes
APPENDIX B
A BRIEF COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF THE PRESENT INDIAN CONSTITUTION, THE MONTAGU-CHELMSFORD SCHEME OF REFORMS AND THE CONGRESS-LEAGUE REFORM PROPOSALS.
The Present Constitution of India
Under the Government of India Act, 1915 (5 & 6 Geo. 5, c. 61).
I. The Secretary of State in Council
(1) His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India superintends, directs, and controls all acts relating to the government or revenues of India. He is responsible to Parliament. He or his Council has no legislative powers.
(2) The Council of India consists of 10 to 14 members, appointed by the Secretary of State for a term of seven years; and the majority of Council must sanction expenditure of revenue and certain other specified matters. In practice two of the members have been Indians since 1907.
(3) The salaries of the Secretary of State, the Under-Secretaries and the Office establishment are paid out of Indian revenues.
II. The Government of India
(1) General.—The Governor-General of India is appointed by the Crown. He has the absolute power of adopting, suspending or rejecting measures affecting safety, tranquillity and interest of India.
(2) Executive Council.—The Executive Council consists of five or six ordinary members appointed by the Crown generally for five years, with the Commander-in-chief as an extraordinary member. Governor-General in Council is the supreme autocratic authority in India in all administrative matters, and it directly administers certain Imperial Departments. One member of Council is now an Indian.
(3) Legislative Council.—For the purpose of legislation the Council consists of all Executive members with 60 additional members, of whom only 27 are elected by specified electorates by a method of indirect election. There is separate representation for Mohammedans. The Governor-General is the President of the Council.
The members of the Legislative Council can discuss the Budget, move resolutions or ask questions, but the Executive Government is not bound thereby. In other words the Legislative has no control over the purse or the acts of the Executive.
Every act of the Legislative requires the assent of the Governor-General, and the Crown may also disallow the same. Besides in cases of emergency the Governor-General has the power to promulgate laws in the shape of ordinances, without reference to the Legislative Council, on his own initiative or on the recommendation of Provincial Governments. These ordinances to be in force for six months.
Montagu-Chelmsford Scheme of Reforms
I. The Secretary of State in Council
(1) His Majesty’s Secretary of State to be retained, but his salary to be transferred to British Estimates.
(2 & 3) A Committee is appointed to examine and report on the present constitution of the Council of India as well as the Office establishment. (The report of the Committee is not yet made.)
(4) The House of Commons to be asked to appoint a Select Committee for Indian affairs.
(5) Control of Parliament and the Secretary of State to be modified.
II. The Government of India
(1) General.—The Government of India to preserve indisputable authority on all matters relating to peace, order, and good Government. It is to remain fully autocratic as at present.
A Privy Council to be established in India.
(2) The Executive Council.—To continue as before with maximum limit removed, but the Indian element is to be increased to two members.
Government to be empowered to appoint a limited number of members (not necessarily elected) of the Legislative Council as Under-Secretaries, similar to Parliamentary Under-Secretaries in England.
(3) Legislative Council.—There will be two legislative Bodies. One to be called Legislative Assembly (with elected majority), and the other the Council of State (with official majority).
The Legislative Assembly is to consist of 100 members, two-thirds of whom would be elected. Of the nominated not less than one-third should be non-officials. President to be nominated by the Governor-General.
The Council of State to consist of 50 members, of whom 21 are to be elected. The Governor-General is to be the President.
Bills passed by the Assembly must also be referred to the Council of State, the differences, if any, being settled by a joint session. But in cases where the interests of peace, order and good Government, including sound financial administration, are concerned, Governor-General shall have powers to refer a Bill to the Council of State and it will become law in the form approved by the Council of State even though it is not acceptable to the Assembly.
Legislative Assembly and the Council of State may discuss the Budget, ask questions, and pass resolutions, but they are not binding on the Executive.
The Governor-General to retain his power of assenting to Acts and promulgating ordinances on his own authority. The Crown may disallow any Act.
The Montagu-Chelmsford Scheme proposes periodical (decennial) Parliamentary inquiries to revise the constitution, both for the Central and the Provincial Governments.
Congress-League Reform Proposals
I. The Secretary of State in Council
(1) The Secretary of State to be retained. But his salary to be transferred to British Estimates.
(2) The Council of India be abolished.
(3) There should be two permanent Under-Secretaries, one of whom should be an Indian. The charges of the Indian Office establishment should be transferred to British Estimates.
(4) The proposed Select Committee of the House of Commons is not objected to.
(5) The Secretary of State for India should eventually occupy the same position as the Colonial Secretary. The control of Parliament and Secretary of State be modified only with the transfer of responsibility of the Government of India to the electorate.
II. The Government of India
(1) General.—The Government of India shall have undivided authority in matters concerning Peace, Tranquillity and Defence of the Country; but subject to a Statutory Declaration of the rights of the people of India as British citizens, viz., that all Indians are equal before law, equally entitled to a licence to bear arms and to have the freedom of speech, writing, and meeting, and also the freedom of the Press, and that no one be punished or deprived of his liberty except by a sentence of a Court of Justice.
That the principle of Responsible Government should be applied to the Central Administration by dividing the subjects into (1) reserved (2) transferred. The reserved subjects to be administered by Government without popular control. The reserved subjects shall be Foreign affairs (except relations with Colonies, and Dominions), Army, Navy, and relations with Indian Ruling Princes, as well as matters affecting public peace, tranquillity, defence of the country subject to the Declarations of Rights mentioned above. All other subjects should be transferred subjects—i.e., transferred to the popular control exercised by the enlarged Legislative Assembly.
There should be no Privy Council.
(2) Executive Council.—The Executive Council shall consist partly of Ministers, from the Elected members of tie Legislative Council, and in charge of the transferred subjects; and other members nominated by the Government in charge of the reserved subjects. When there are two or more members in charge of the reserved subjects, half the number shall be Indians.
(3) Legislative Council.—There should be no Council of State, but only one Legislative Assembly composed of 150 members, four-fifths of whom should be elected directly by the people. The Franchise should be as broad as possible without distinction of sex, but with a proportional and communal representation for Mohammedans as settled at Lucknow. The Assembly should have an elected President. (The Moslem League does not object to the Council of State if at least half the members thereof would be elected).
The Legislative Assembly should have the same measure of fiscal autonomy as Self-Governing Dominions, and should control the Budget, excepting the reserved subjects, the allotment for which shall be a first charge on the Revenues. All Bills must be introduced and passed in the Assembly.
Provided that in the case of reserved subjects if the Legislative Assembly does not pass measures desired by Government, the Governor-General in Council may provide for the same by regulations. Such regulations will remain in force for one year, and shall not be renewed unless 40 per cent (two-fifths of the members) of the Legislative Assembly present and voting are in favour of them.
The Governor-General to retain his existing power of making ordinances and the Governor-General in Council the power of passing regulations. The Governor-General and the Crown to have also power of assent, reservation or disallowance.
The Congress-League scheme objects to periodical Commissions for revising the Constitution, and asks for a Statutory declaration that the transfer of responsibility should be completed in a period not exceeding 15 years, when India should be placed on a footing of equality with the other self-governing parts of the Empire.
III. The Provincial Governments
(1) General.—India, including Burma, is divided into 14 provinces, each of which has its own Provincial Government.
By a system of decentralisation, revenues are allotted to all these provinces by the Government of India. The Provincial Governments administer, under the general supervision of the Central Government, without being responsible to the Local Legislatures in any way.
(2) Executive.—Bombay, Bengal, and Madras have each a Governor sent from England and three (one of whom is, in practice, an Indian) Executive Councillors appointed by the Crown, with a Legislative Council.
Bihar and Orissa governed by a Lieutenant-Governor with Legislative and Executive Councils; United Provinces, Punjab and Burma by a Lieutenant-Governor with only a Legislative Council; Central Provinces and Assam by a Chief Commissioner with only a Legislative Council, and the remaining by Chief Commissioners without any Councils.
(3) Legislative.—The Provincial Legislative Councils enjoy limited powers for legislation in the provinces. The Governor is the President of the Council.
The elected members of the Legislative Council are elected by constituencies formed of Municipal and Local Boards, and Landlords with a separate constituency for Mohammedans. They are in a minority except in Bengal, where they have at present only a small majority. The Legislative Councils have no control over the Executive or the Budget.
The Acts of the Provincial Legislature must be assented to first by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or the Commissioner as the case may be, and then by the Governor-General subject always to disallowance by the Crown.
Public Services
Recruitment, examination, and other matters relating to Indian services are at present under the control of the Indian Government and the Secretary of State, with no statutory limit for recruitment in India.
Local Self-Government
Half the members of Municipalities and Local Boards are generally elected, but the bodies are under official control.
III. The Provincial Governments
(1) General.—All Provinces having Legislative Councils at present (except Burma) should have a Governor with Executive and Legislative Councils. A complete separation will be made between Indian and Provincial Revenues. Provincial Governments are to have certain powers of taxation and borrowing.
Responsible Government is to be introduced in the Provinces by a division of departments into reserved (for Government) and transferred (to popular control) subject to a revision after five years. (A Committee is appointed to settle which subjects should be transferred. The report is not yet out.)
(2) The Executive would be a kind of Diarchy, consisting of the Governor and two members (one of whom is to be an Indian) who will be in charge of the reserved subjects, and responsible only to Government; and a Minister or Ministers, nominated by the Governor from the elected members of the Council, who will be in charge of the transferred subjects and responsible not to the Legislature, but to the electors who may not elect him next time. There may also be additional members without Portfolios for the purpose of consultation.
Ministers to have no voice in decisions concerning reserved subjects or about the supply for them in the Budget.
There will be Under-Secretaries and Standing Committees from the members of the Legislative Councils to assist the Executive.
(3) Legislative Councils.—These would be practically two Provincial Legislative Bodies: (1) Legislative Council. (2) Grand Committee.
The Legislative Council will have a substantial elected majority, elected on a broad franchise with Governor as President. (A Commission is appointed to inquire into the question of franchise and the composition of the Council, but the report is not yet out.)
The Grand Committee will comprise only from 40 to 50 per cent of Legislative Council, and its members will be partly elected by a ballot and partly appointed by nomination.
All Legislation and the Budget for transferred subjects only must be passed in the Legislative Councils.
But when the Governor certifies that a bill dealing with reserved subjects is essential he may refer the Bill to the Grand Committee and have it finally passed there.
The members of the Legislative Council can ask questions and pass resolutions, but the latter are not binding on the Executive, except resolutions on the Budget for the transferred subjects.
All Provincial Legislation requires the assent of the Governor and the Governor-General, and is also subject to disallowance by His Majesty.
Public Service
Racial bars should not exist. In addition to recruitment in England a system of appointment to all public services be established in India with an increasing percentage of recruitment. In the case of Indian Civil Service the percentage should be 33 of the superior posts, with annual increment of 1½ per cent.
Local Self-Government
Complete popular control in Local Bodies to be established as far as possible.
III. The Provincial Governments
(1) General.—There should be a complete separation of the Provincial from the Imperial Revenues. All Provincial Governments should have certain powers of taxation and borrowing.
(2) Executive.—Full responsible Government should be introduced into the Provinces. The Executive will thus consist of the Governor and Ministers responsible to the Legislature. There should be no distinction of transferred or reserved subjects.
(3) Legislative.—There should be only one Legislative Council, having four-fifths of its members elected on a broad franchise without distinction of sex, but with a proportional and communal representation for the Mohammedans. The Legislative Council should elect its own President, and must have control over the Budget. All Bills must be introduced and passed in this Legislative Council.
The Governor to retain his power of assent, and the Governor-General and the Crown the power of assent or disallowance.
Public Services
Services should be recruited in India in a fixed and progressive proportion. The annual recruitment in India for the Indian Civil Service should be 50 per cent to start with, and that Indians be granted at least 25 per cent of the Commissions in Army and the proportion be gradually increased. There should be no racial distinctions.
Local Self-Government
Municipal and Local Bodies should be completely under popular control.
Notes
1 Italics are ours.
2 Italics are ours.
3 Are there any such stores? If so, where?