Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 February 1916 — INDIA IS QUIET AND LOYAL TO BRITAIN IN WAD [ARTICLE]

INDIA IS QUIET AND LOYAL TO BRITAIN IN WAD

Only Disturbances Are Caused by the Ever Restless Warlike Border Tribes. TO ASK VOICE IN EMPIRE One Effect of War Will Be Demand by India for Greater Degree of Autonomy—Mohammedans of India ' Are Greatest Bulwark of the British Rule. London.—AU efforts to stir up serious trouble for the British in India have so far failed signally. The few seditious movements noted have had their origin in Hindu organizations which antedate the great war. When it is considered that the population of India—3ls,ooo,oo—is more than three times that of the United States, the relative insignificance of the few outbreaks in the last year and a half is evident In such a great nation disorders are inevitable, in either war or peace, Just as the United States or any other nation is never Quite free from labor troubles causing loss of life or property. AU the information, official and otherwise, received here, shows that the Indian empire is profoundly Quiet, except for the ever-restless, warlike border tribes of the Northwest The rulers of the great native independent or semi-independent states, from the nlzam of Hyderabad with his 14,000,000 people down, are loyal to their emperor, King George V of England. They have contributed liberaUy of their public and private means to assist Great Britain against her enemies. Many of their relatives are active members of the British army. The Mohammedans of India, far from being an element to be distrusted, are the greatest bulwark of British rule. This minority of 75,000,000 has always sided with the British as its protectors against the more numerous Hindus. It is stated here that no Mohammedan has ever been convicted - of complicity in a treasonable enterprise in India. Just Quiet Farmers. It must be remembered that of the 300,000,000 people in India at least 250,000,000 are quiet, uneducated, gentle agriculturalists, quite uninterested in politics, asking from their government only a chance to till their little farms in peace and caring no further as to the character of their rulers. It must not be concluded from these facts that the world war Is without Important effect on India. The Hindu intellectual leaders see the growing prominence of Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand in the empire. They know that these British dominions will soon ask a place in the councils of the empire, and a voice in the peace congress which shall follow the war. They believe that the time has come for India to have a voice in the empire, too. They demand a further degree of autonomy for India, something approximating the freedom of England’s white dependencies. This was clearly set forth by the Indian National congress at Bombay on December 30, which unanimously adopted a resolution demanding selfgovernment for India. < At the same time the delegates to the congress heartily applauded Baba Surendranth Bannerjee when he said: “India’s devotion to the throne during the war has been unsurpassed." Fellow Feeling Among Asiatics. India, like other eastern nations, is . permeated, too, with the spirit of “Asia for the Asiatics." Despite the long hostility between certain nations, notably China and Japan, there is developing a fellow feeling in Asiatic nations against European dictation. An illustration was an incident which occurred in Tokyo in December. Two young Indians, British subjects, received 36 hours* notice to leave Japan, the reason being their alleged complicity in German plots to foment disturbances in India. The notice was so timed that the only vessel by which the deportees oould sail was bound for Shanghai, where they were liable to arrest by the British consul. The Indians laid their bard case before sympathizers in the Japanese press. Leading Independent politicians were approached. In a few hours a formidable agitation was afoot. A deputation waited on the foreign minister and asked that the order should be withdrawn or altered so as to permit the Indians to board a ship bound for America. The minister refused, whereupon the government was defied. A leading member of the diet who delights to act thd part of t "ronin,** or free lance (literally a warrior without a lord), took the Indians to his home and kept them there till the time specified in the order had expired. ' beared. ITFlare-Up. ' -The authorities drew a cordon of police round his house but did not risk entering and removing the Indians. Next morning they covered up their capitulation by saying the In- ? dians had escaped—which nobody believed, the efficiency of the Japanese

police In the matter of surveillance being well known. The Indians probably have sailed for America. The interesting point about this defiance of the Japanese government is the ludicrously small means by which the great engine of government was stopped. The mass of the Japanese nation knew nothing of the Indians, and cared nothing. The act was the work of a handful of men on the Tokyo press, backed by half a dozen political free lances. No questions of policy were involved. There was, in the official eye, nothing whatever to make a fuss about. Why did the government climb down? They feared a flare-up. They re-' membered that 18 months ago, over just such a small matter, involving a couple of Chinese students, the director of the political bureau of the foreign office was assassinated by a fanatic as he was entering his house, and small but angry armed mobs terrorized officialdom. The beliefs which Inspired the agitation were (1) that the Indians were not German agents, but bona-fide revolutionaries, and (2) that the Japanese government was acting at the request of the British and not of its own initiative. Japan is England’s ally, and is bound in terms of the alliance to assist England if India is attacked by a hostile power. But the Japanese people are deeply jealous of all foreign influences in Asia, of which they consider themselves leaders. “Japan, lord of the Orient" is a frequent phrase in the Japanese press these days. No Serious Revolution. Like sentiments are warmly welcomed in many parts of India. This cannot, be denied. But as far as active revolution goes, Great Britain so far has seen nothing which looked formidable. . The most extensive outbreak since the beginning of the war occurred near Lahore, when as a result 24 Indians were executed and 27 others sentenced to imprisonment for life. The Native press were quite unanimous in ascribing the munitions agitation to the work of a band of conspirators located on the Pacific slope of America for several years. These conspirators are declared here to have sent emissaries to India who tried to stir up antagonism to British rule. It is also known here that between the middle of June and the middle of September of last year 17 Indian cavalrymen in the Punjab and Bengal were sentenced to death for mutiny, making bombs, and cutting telegraph wires, and 71 others were convicted of other offenses. J. Austen Chamberlain, secretary of state for India, stated publicly in the house of commons that the disloyalty of some of the native troops in northern India was due to the activities of an anti-Britlsh association having its headquarters in the United States. China is another center for anti-Brit-ish plotting. Gaekwar Only Suspect. As to the Hindu organization in the United States, it has been at work since 1907. It comprises natives of India who are highly educated; also members of the Clan-Na-Gael, and of late many Germans and American proGermans. One of the announced aims of the organization is to start a mutiny in India in 1917 to commemorate the “Diamond Jubilee of the Mutiny of 1857." The Hindus in America have A newspaper devoted to their Interest and also a school of instruction for the purpose of educating natives of India in the use of arms. British agents closely watch these activities. They are still of negligible extent. If a revolution ever does gain headway in India, there is only one Important native prince whom the British will have cause to suspect This is the gaekwar of Baroda, well known in the United States, who is reported to have encouraged Hindus in anti-Brit-lsh views. The gaekwar is in ill so* cial repute both in London and in India because he married a dancer.