Page:Allan Octavian Hume, C.B.; Father of the Indian National Congress.djvu/91

 ble ; also he explained that, had it been possible, he personally would gladly have postponed the propa- ganda for some years. " But/' he wrote, " no choice was left to those who gave the primary impetus to the movement. The ferment, the product of Western ideas, education, inventions and appliances, was at work with a rapidly increasing intensity, and it became of paramount importance to find for its products an overt and constitutional channel for discharge, instead of leaving them to fester, as they had already commenced to do, beneath the surface. I have always admitted that in certain Provinces and from certain points of view the movement was premature, but from the most vital point of view, the future maintenance of the integrity of the British Empire, the real question when the Congress started was, not, is it premature, but is it too late — will the country now accept it ? ... A safety-valve for the escape of great and growing forces, generated by our own action, was urgently needed, and no more elBcacious safety-valve than our Congress movement could possibly be devised." In this matter Mr. Hume, to use his own phrase, was "in deadly earnest." Appreciating the nature of the Indian people, their conservative instincts, their law- abiding character, their astonishing endurance and docility, unless driven out of their ancient quietude by feelings of despair, he felt confident that he was following the right and safe course in showing them how hope could be maintained, and that there was a peaceful and orderly line of conduct by which relief from their sufferings might be obtained.

As a lesson to the people of this country in world politics, the teaching of Mr. Hume in this matter is of the first importance, showing where the real danger in India lies — the danger under the surface, arising from material suffering among the masses and resent-